Changing Time
by WorldOfLilyEvans
Summary: ON HIATUS Harry and Ginny go to the Marauders' seventh year to tell them about the future and change it. Post Half Blood Prince. HarryGinny, JamesLily, SiriusOC
1. The Letter

**a/n: Hi, my Penname is WorldOfLilyEvans, but I'll be calling myself Malou from now on!**

**This is my first fic, so please enjoy and let me know if I've made a mistake regarding the first six Harry Potter books or if made crucial timeline faults. If you have any advice on making this fic more enjoyable for you, please, construcive criticism works best!**

**This is a James/Lily, Harry/Ginny fic. It's about Harry and Ginny going back to the marauders' seventh year to change their present time.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I repeat, I DO NOT own Harry Potter or anything in any way described in the Harry Potter books. I never have and never will.

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Changing Time

1: The Letter

Harry Potter was once again sitting in his old bedroom at number Four Privet Drive, after spending the remainder of sixth year and the first two weeks of summer holiday at the Weasley's.

He hadn't been back at Hogwarts since the burial of his old Headmaster Dumbledore, who had been murdered by Severus Snape, a man who he had trusted with his life.

Harry had been depressed all through sixth year, because of his Godfather's death, and became even moreso when Dumbledore had also died before his eyes.

Harry also had to deal with becoming a murderer, because it just wouldn't do to die and leave the world at the mercy of a madman.

On top of that he had also broke up with the one girl who could comfort him. The one girl he loved so much annd who loved him just as much. He had broken up with her to keep her safe, for he feared that Voldemort would kill everybody Harry cared about to get to him.

There was no mistake about it: Harry Potter was not a happy teenager.

After lying in his bed for nearly half an hour, he went to unpack his trunk. When he turned around to place his books on his desk, however, there was a beautiful red and golden bird perched on top of it.

Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, had come with an envelope.

He opened the enelope and took out two letters, so he first read the one on top:

_Dear Harry,_

_If you're reading this letter, I have died before your seventeenth birthday. I instructed Fawkes to deliver this letter only if that was the case._

_The reason for this letter is that I have a very important message for you._

_You must keep this information to yourself. I am telling you to stop looking for the Horcruxes for I am sending you on a mission to tell your parents, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew of your life. You will also finish with Voldemort when he doesn't know who you are yet._

_On your birthday Fawkes will take you back to 31 July 1976. You will be in my office. There you will give the letter enclosed with this one to my past self and stay in Hogwarts for the whole of your seventh year._

_Your name: Harry Granger_

_Status: Seventh year exchange student from Merlin Day School in Holland._

_You can bring one person to help you with your task. If all goes right, you will have changed the present. _

_You are not to give Peter Pettigrew a hard time, because you DO NOT KNOW HIM! You have to remember: YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYONE IN THE SCHOOL! YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND!_

_You will stay there until a year after your parents wedding. You cannnot stay any longer, bacause you won't ever be able to come back after that day._

_Think hard about the person you wish to bring,because no-one else can know about this mission._

_Good luck,_

_Sincerely, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

_P.S. Take good care of Fawkes; he is your birthday present from me. _

Harry read the letter three times before reality sunk in. Even though it all sounded ridiculous, he couldn't help but believe the letter.

'I'm going to meet my parents!' he thought, 'I'm going to see Sirius again!'

Harry was so happy with this prospect that he had forgotten about Fawkes still sitting there. When Fawkes made a sound, Harry remembered that he didn't have any food for the bird, so he sent Hedwig to the M_agical Menagerie _with a note asking for Phoenix food and to take the expenses from his vault at Gringotts.

Then Harry remembered he could take someone with him to the past. He thought of Ron and Hermione, but he could only bring one of them. He didn't dare splitting them up after they had just got together; he was sure they were made for eachother.

So the only person left was...

_Dear Ginny,_

_How are you? Anything weird happen in the few hours I've been gone? Well it's just been crazy out here! I've been sitting in my room for the past three hours and already have I got a phoenix delivery! I know this must sound crazy, but it's really important, so... is there any way I could pick you up tomorrow around noon so that I can tell you all about why I've got a Phoenix named Fawkes? Nobody may know about it! Please reply with return phoenix!_

_Love, Harry_

"Make sure Ginny gets this when she's alone, okay Fawkes?" Harry said to the bird. Fawkes sang softly in response. Harry took this as an affirmative.

Not two minutes later came Ginny's response: _I'm good, thanks. Fawkes is beautiful! I will be ready tomorrow at noon. Love, Ginny.

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**Comments: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Please review and I'll try to answer all your questions!**

**-xxx- Malou**


	2. Happy Birthday, Harry!

**a/n: Hi! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I'd like to thank my reviewers for their encouragement and advice.**

**The first time I posted the first chapter I called Fawkes the phoenix, Felix. I hereby apologise for that and I thank Imperial Princess for pointing it out to me. The reason I made that mistake is that I read most of tha books in Dutch and in those books his name is Felix. I have however now fixed that problem.**

**Anyway I think you all know that I don't own Harry Potter so here's the second chapter! YAY!

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Changing Time

2: Happy Birthday, Harry!

In the two weeks leading up to his birthday, Harry had been spending as much time as possible with Ron and Hermione.

Even though they didn't know, Harry would be missing them for the next two years. As far as they were concerned, they would still be going Horcrux hunting, though Harry kept putting it off.

Harry and Ginny had taken almost two thirds of Harry's money out of his vault to place it in a new account in the past.

Ginny's new last name would be De Boer, a common Dutch name. And Ginny thought that Granger would be too English a name for a Dutch exchange student so they decided on Smit for Harry.

Harry spent his seventeenth birthday at Headquarters. He had the best birthday of his as far as he could remember; as far as he was concerned only his first birthday could have been better than this one.

While Harry was doing his best to look happy, he didn't feel it all the time. He was thankful that he had such a great birthday, but he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that it was his last day there, with his friends, who had become his family over the years he had known them.

Ginny was also very sad about that, and who else would notice but the lately-not-so-perceptive Hermione Granger?

Harry and Ginny were in a corner of the kitchen talking quietly, and Hermione decided to go over to them and confront them about it. They didn't notice her coming within hearing distance so they kept talking and Hermione caught the last few words before they noticed her.

"...how to say goodbye to every..." Ginny whispered before Harry cut her of with a loud "Hey, Hermione!" that made Ginny freeze. A she slowly turned around to face her friend, she put a big smile on her face that would have been convincing if the horror that she felt wasn't mirrored in her eyes.

"Oh, hi 'Mione!" Ginny said as if it was the first time she noticed her.

Hermione, thoroughly annoyed by their act, only said:"What was that about saying goodbye? Are you going somewhere?"

"When? Now? No, off course not. After all, it's my birthday party." Harry said, as if curious as to why she was asking all these questions. This did nothing to lighten her mood.

Her voice rising so that half the people in the kitchen could hear she asked: "Why were you two talking about saying goodbye, then?" By now everyone there seemed to listen.

Ginny tried one last time to get Hermione to stop asking questions, because she knew that she and Harry both didn't want to lie to her and Ron, so she said: "Hermione, this is Harry's first real birthday party and you are ruining it by getting angry. So please just stop the questions and stay out of our business!"

Ginny regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth, because she didn't want to leave fighting with her best friend.

"Oh, I'm ruining the party, am I? So the birthday boy being down all the time isn't enough to ruin his own party?" Hermione shouted. She knew they were hiding something fro her, and she couldn't bear it any longer. She needed to know.

"Please tell me what's been upsetting you? Then I promise I'll leave you alone." She asked Harry softly in a heart-broken voice and with pleading eyes.

Harry couldn't take it anymore, so he promised Hermione he would talk with her and Ron later, and went upstairs. Ginny followed him to the master bedroom, which was now Harry's since he owned the place.

He would have shared a room with Ron if he wasn't sure that Hermione would be coming in every night to snog with his best mate. Also he thouhgt that a little privacy could never hurt when you were planning on going back in time.

That summer the only ones to have seen the inside were Harry, Ginny, Hedwig and Fawkes, as Harry usually went to Rons bedroom to talk in the night.

After a few minutes of sitting on the bed in silence, Harry said, seemingly out of the blue, "We could write letters."

"What? Letters?" Ginny asked, totally not understanding.

"You asked me before, how are we going to say goodbye to everyone? We write them letters and put them in their rooms before we leave. It's the best solution right?" Harry proposed.

Comprehension dawned on Ginny. "That is a great idea, Harry! I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier!" Ginny said, bouncing up and down on his bed, making Harry laugh.

He stopped soon though, because he started to think about their fight with Hermione and probably Ron also.

Ginny noticed his mood changing, and she said: "I wish things had gone differently this afternoon. But we will sort things out before dinner with them."

She said with such resolve that Harry just had to believe her. So he asked her if she wanted to get started on the letters. She agreed and they had become so caught up in their writing that when they had finished they had barely ten minutes until dinner.

At that point someone knocked on the door. Rons voice yelled through the door that dinner was in ten minutes.

"Oh no, we lost track of time! And we didn't even make up with Ron and Hermione! I don't want to leave without knowing they still support us. Ginny, I think we should tell them that we are leaving." Harry said, obviously overreacting for Alastor Moody, new chairman of the Order, had scheduled a meeting for that evening, so they had dinner at five instead of six o'clock.

Ginny took a deep breath before starting. "Harry, calm down! Stop being such a drama queen! We have at least five hours after dinner, and that's plenty of time to do what we have to do! Now we are going downstairs for dinner and we will ask them to talk in mine and Hermione's room and if we have to we will tell them what's going on, alright? Good. Now, pull yourself together and get in the kitchen for your birthday dinner!" she yelled at him after putting a silencing charm on the room off course.

Harry walked slowly toward the door where Ginny was waiting very impatiently. She sent him an angry glare, but he looked up at her face, he suddenly couldn't resist the urge to burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up anymore so he fell to the ground.

When Ginny saw him laughing so heartily with no apparent reason, she just couldn't stay mad at him, so she started to laugh with him.

When they had finally calmed down enough to be able to walk, they were already five minutes late to dinner. But as Harry was the birthday boy they had all waited for him to come down to start dinner.

Everyone who was there, and that was quite a few (Ron, Hermione, Remus, Tonks, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, the twins and Bill, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody had all decided to come), was very surprised to see them stumbling in, nearly falling over again from laughing.

Fred, who wanted in on the joke asked a very red-faced Ginny: "What's so funny?" very enthusiastically.

Ginny barely managed to get out between gasps: "I-I do-don't kn-know, rea-lly. He s-started it!" and she pointed to Harry.

Harry just went into hysterics when she said that. But after a few more minutes they managed to get into chairs without falling off after a few seconds.

Then Harry managed to calm himself down enough to tell everybody what exactly was so funny.

"Well when we were in my room, when Ron called us for dinner I started to freak out and then Ginny yelled at me and pointed out a few things that I had overlooked. And when she did that she reminded me of Mrs. Weasley, and well you know what that's like, right? So when she was finished I started to think, what if my mother was like that, too? And then when I was walking to the door I could barely hold in my laughter, and then I looked up at Ginny and she was glaring at me and reminded me of Hermione, and then I thought what if she was something between Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, because we all know that my mum was also all rules and study, right? And then I just cracked up. And as I was rolling around on the ground Ginny cracked up too even though she didn't know what I was laughing about and that just made things even funnier!" And then he just cracked up again.

And everybody at the table laughed with him.

After everyone had calmed down enough, Remus said: "Well, after this much needed tension relief, I think it is time to start this feast Molly has prepared for us."

When everyone was busy serving food, Ginny leaned in and muttered to Harry: "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"I hope so." sighed Harry in response. Then he turned to Ron who was seated on his other side, and said: "Can we talk upstairs in Ginny and 'Mione's room after dinner?"

"Sure, Harry. But we've got to go to the drawing room first. Mum asked us to take care of another Boggart in there." Said Ron, as though nothing had happened.

Harry finished his dinner mostly in silence, only talking when he was directly asked something, or to complement Mrs. Weasley on her more than usually splendidly delicious food. He just sat there watching everyone laughing, making jokes and talking trying his best to print the image in his head, for it was probably the last time he would see them like this for a long time. In that moment he felt truly grateful that he had such a great family.

Next to him he saw Ginny with a content smile on her face. It showed so much confidence in the future, that Harry couldn't help but smile at her when she looked at him.

For a moment time seemed to have stopped in that perfect moment. But all too soon the scraping of chairs being pushed back and the sound of people standing and putting their plates on the sink snapped the two young adults out of their daze.

Harry stood up to put away his and Ginny's plates, when they were taken from him by Mrs. Weasley with the words: "You just get to the drawing room, mister. I think I may have a way to take down the tapestry."

At this Harry started to get suspicious. Something was going to happen up in the drawing room and it had some thing to do with him. Why else would Ron and Mrs. Weasley both give different reasons for him to go up there?

So he went up there prepared for every possible situation he could think of.

When he entered most dinner guests where already there. Behind them however was a very large motorbike.

He didn't think of that situation.

He just there, mouth hanging open, not able to speak.

"Well?" said Remus mock impatiently, with a big grin on his face.

When Harry still didn't speak, he decided to explain things.

"This is Sirius' old motorbike., you knew that, right?" Harry nodded. "When you were born, he fell in love with you. And when he held you for the first time, he promised that he would give it to you for your coming of age. When he went to Azkaban, he wrote me a letter asking if would give it to you if he didn't get the chance. Then he broke out and said he'd do it himself. But when he wrote his will he didn't forget, so in the will it said: _If I die before Harry's seventeenth, Remus Lupin will give Harry Potter my motorbike as his coming of age present from me._ So here we are. Here are the keys, Harry." And he gave him the keys.

Harry just stared at the flying motorbike. After a while, he said: "Wow" and then, as though it had all just sunk in, he jumped and hugged Remus, while shouting: "Thank you so much, Moony!" The first time he ever used his Marauder name.

"Does anyone of you know how to fly this thing?" he asked the room at large. When nobody answered, he said: "Guess I'll just have to figure it out for myself, then." And walked around the motorbike once, put the key in the ignition and started it. It made a perfect sound, as if it hadn't been standing in a small dark room for three years.

He turned it off again, shrinked it and put it in his pocket. Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy. Only Ginny understood what he had done. She smiled.

"I think were gonna have a lot of fun with that bike." she said.

"yeah, you're right. Well, Ron, Hermione, I thunk it's time for that talk now." And he walked out of the room, Ginny, Ron and Hermione following.

Once in the girls' room, he asked if they had any questions. They didn't answer so he just started explaining. He told them all about their plans and Ron and Hermione were too stunned to interrupt him. In some places Ginny helped him.

It took up a good half hour of their evening. When he was finished, Ron and Hermione were angry, shocked and extremely sad and disappointed.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" and "What did you think we would do while you were gone?" were some of the questions that they had come up with.

Ginny said: "We know what you want to say, but it's not going to happen. This is our only chance to change our present for the better, and we're going to seize this opportunity. We are going, and that's final!" her voice rising after every sentence, in a way that left no room for argument.

"I know that there's no way to change your minds, so I'm not even going to try. I just want to say that you must be careful... And I'm going to miss you two so much. Heck, I miss you already and you haven't even left yet!" Hermione tried to smile, but failing as she tried to hold back the tears.

"I'm gonna miss you two so much. And there's no way I'm gonna forget you. You are the first real friends I've had. Thank you for always being there for me." Harry said. And he hugged Ron and Hermione.

Then Ginny spoke up: "Hermione, you are my best friend and I love you. I wish there was a way you could come with us, but there isn't, so I'm just gonna have to miss you." She hugged Hermione.

"Ron, I love you and I will miss you so much. I hope that you and Hermione will be happy together. You are made for eachother, so don't you two go and ruin it for yourselves, alright? Tell Mum and Dad, Fred and George, Percy, Bill and Charlie That I love them, for me, OK?" Ginny hugged her brother.

Ron refused to let go of his little sister. "I'm not going to let you go, Ginny." He said to her. Now Ginny could not stop herself crying anymore.

"I'm going to miss you so much, little big brother, but you have to let me go. I have to do this, and nothing can say will stop me." By now they all were crying.

Ron chuckled at her nickname for him. Now it was his turn to say goodbye.

"Harry, you are my best mate, and I'm gonna miss you to death. But I'm gonna ask you two one question. Are you going to get back together, then? Because in the past nobody knows you, so you don't have to worry about You-know-who coming after you, right? Plus you two are made for eachother, too, no doubt about that. I mean everyone in this house knows it." By now Ron was grinning at their dumbfounded expression.

Harry and Ginny had not expected that question. They had thought of a lot to expect, but this was far from it all. Then they looked at eachother and they were lost.

Ron and Hermione sneaked out of the room to give the two a little privacy.

After a while of sappy eye-gazing Harry said: "Well, what do you think?" Even though he already knew her answer.

She decided to play along. "What do I think, what?"

"In these past few months there hasn't been a day I didn't think about you Ginny.I tried my best to keep myself from grabbing you and kissing you like there was no tomorrow. So what do you think about us getting back together? I need you, Ginny, and I can't deny it any longer. Please, let me love you."

Harry's words left Ginny speechless for a minute . Then she said: "There is no tomorrow."

"Huh?" was Harry's only response, 'cause he didn't get what she was getting at.

"There is no tomorrow." she repeated. "For us there's not. When we wake up tomorrow morning, it's not August 1st 1997, but 1976. So there is no tomorrow."

Harry finally caught on and laid her down on the bed and started kissing her as if trying to make up for all the months he wanted to, but couldn't. And Ginny was only too happy to reciprocate.

After ten minutes Fred came in to ask Harry about an idea he and George had. But when he saw what was going on, he just said "Finally!" in a very exasperated way and ran downstairs to tell his twin and naturally the rest of the house knew instantly.

They laughed for about twenty minutes. Then Ginny noticed the time; it was ten o'clock.

"Oh, we've got one hour left! Best get the letters in place now, huh?" she said.

"Yeah, but we have one more thing to do before that." He smirked.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" she breathed, as his face came closer to hers.

"We... should... get that ice-cream they've got downstairs, before they finish it!" and he ran across the room to the door.

"You coming?" he dared to ask Ginny as he held the door open for her.

She stood up slowly, anger etched all over her face. But then her expression changed instantly into a sugary smile that wiped harry's smile off his face.

He looked apprehensive as she came closer, still with that insane grin on her face that made Harry want to run and hide.

When she was almost through the door she stopped and turned around, grabbed Harry's collar and pulled his face towards hers. She kissed him so fast, but firmly, that Harry stood there ten seconds after she had left, wanting for more. Then he followed her downstairs.

He caught her up just before she reached the kitchen door. He pushed her up against the wall, giving her such an incredible kiss she still felt the tingling in her body for minutes afterwards.

"Are you coming, Ginny?" Harry asked her, an amused expression on his face as he held the door open for her to enter the kitchen. He had got her back good, andthey both knew it.

After ice eating, they hurried to get the letters in place, for they only had thirty minutes left.

At twenty to eleven Harry made a big deal out of saying goodnight to everyone personally, a few hugs here and there. Ron and Hermione had decided to join them in Harry's room to say goodbye.

Just five minutes to time Fred and George decided that there was something going on and that they were going to find out. They went to Harry's room and knocked on the door.

When after a few minutes they still didn't get an answer, they burst inside just in time to see Ginny and Harry hugging Ron and Hermione one last time and grabbing the tale of a Phoenix they instantly recognised as Fawkes, grabbing a couple of trunks. They heard their shouts of "I love you!" before they were surrounded by golden flames. A few seconds later, they were gone. Ron and Hermione had a lot of explaining to do.

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**Comments: I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday, but my brother sent me to bed because I had an important test today, so I couldn't finish it.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, too! I know it was a bit fluffy, I hope you didn't mind too much. Thanks for reading!**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! Untill then, please give me some more advice on how to make this story more enjoyable for your sakes!**

**-xxx- Malou**


	3. First Weeks

**a/n: Hey everybody! I really had to struggle to get this done in time, but here it is! The third chapter! Just like I promised some of you!**

**I'd just like to thank all my reviewers with all there compliments and advice. Honestly, if I was a car, You'd be what kept me running.**

**I'd also like to congratulate myself for doing this in spite of my busy weekend (two birthdays and babysitting).**

**I want to thank all of my loyal readers, too, for liking my story.**

**Disclaimer: Oh yeah, in case you had forgotten, I am not J.K. Rowling, and therefore don't own Harry Potter!**

**Now on with the story!

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Changing Time

3: First Weeks

Ginny was just hugging Hermione when Fred and George burst into the room. She acted as if she didn't notice, and grabbed Fawkes' tail.

Then she grabbed her trunk and shouted a last I love you at the same time as Harry did as they were surrounded by fire.

For a few seconds she looked at her brothers and then they were gone.

All around them the scenery changed very quickly. They saw that they weren't just going back in time, they were also being pulled to another place.

Soon they could recognise Hogwarts' grounds speeding past and the landscape changing seasons in reversal; first spring blosoms in the trees, then an all white winter paradise, the red and yellow leaves of autumn and the lush green grass of summer.

Over and over again in such great succession, that it only took three minutes to cover all twenty-one years they had traveled over.

In the last few seconds they saw the inside of Hogwarts as they sped towards Dumbledore's office.

The speed of travel over time and space seemed perfectly timed because both destinations were reached at the same time.

Dumbledore's office however was empty, so ginny and Harry made themselves comfortable in the chairs that were situated infront of Dumbledore's desk. Fawkes sat next to his younger self.

Harry decided to take out the letter so he could give it to Dumbledore without having to search for it.

At the same moment that he found it, they heared voices outside the door. It would seem that the Headmaster wasn't alone.

When they came to the door they could distinctly hear "Horace" and "Minerva" being invited into the room. It seemed that they would meet Professors Slughorn and McGonagall a little sooner than they had expected.

Professor Dumbledore opened the door and stood aside to let Professor McGonagall in first, but when she didn't move and kept staring in the office as if there were three nifflers attacking the portraits of the previous Headmasters and headmistress, he looked inside. "Mr. Potter? What are you doing here?" he asked, for he had mistaken Harry for his father and didn't know who the girl was.

Harry stood up to greet his old Headmaster properly. "How very nice to meet you, sir. A word in private, if you please." He stared pointedly at the two Heads of Houses.

"Off course. Minerva, Horace, I think we could continue this some other time."

"Off course, Albus." Were their replies, and they walked away from the office after looking back at the mysterious couple.

"Who do I have the pleasure of meeting here, this evening? And why is there a second phoenix sitting with mine?" he asked as he'd just noticed the second bird.

"So I guess you noticed I'm not James Potter? Well, I'm Harry and this is my girlfriend Ginny, and that's my phoenix." Harry introduced themselves. "And for further explainations I think you should read this letter. It's from our old Headmaster." He said as he handed him the letter.

Dumbledore took it and eyed it suspiciously. "This is my handwriting. I don't remember ever writing a letter to myself." He had read his own name written on top of the letter. "And I don't remember ever being your Headmaster!"

"Well you wouldn't,'cause you haven't yet." Ginny said bluntly.

Harry quickly said: "What she meant to say was, that all should be explained in the letter. So I think you should read, and we'll be happy to answer any of your questions once your finished."

The old professor didn't yet trust the James-Potter-look-alike or the girl he came with, but he didn't see any harm in reading the letter, so he sat down and started it.

Harry and Ginny watched his facial expression go from serious to shocked to curious, surprised and amusement, and at one point he even chuckled a little. But when he had reached the end though, he became sad.

He looked up from the letter and asked them: "Let's assume that this letter is genuine and you really are from the future: who are you two, then?"

"Oh... uhm" Harry, who had expected that he was explained in the letter, stumbled over his words. "I am Harry Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans."

"And I am Ginny Weasley, daughter of Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett."

"And I will be pretending to be Harry Smit, exchange student from Merlin's Day School in Amsterdam, the Netherlands"

"And I will be Ginny de Boer, also an exchange student from the same school."

"Lily Evans? Really? I never got the impression that she likes James very much..." Dumbledore mused.

"Oh, she doesn't really! No, she only started liking him in seventh year! Dad has always loved her though." Harry reassured him.

"Oh yeah, well, the whole school knows that. Arthur and Molly did you say?" he asked Ginny, who nodded. "Then your brother should be starting this year as a first-year! Bill Weasley, right?"

Ginny grinned. "Oh Harry did you hear that? I'm five years older than my oldest brother! This is going to be the best adventure we've ever had!" she said excitedly. Bouncing up and down in her seat.

Harry couldn't help but grin at her exuberance, especially since he knew she still felt sad about leaving her whole family behind.

"How can you have so much energy? I've just had the most one of the most tiring days of my life!" he complained.

"Was it as tiring as your first day in Diagon Alley?" "No, but..." "Then don't whine. You've got plenty of energy left. Now lets get down to business!"

Professor Dumbledore chuckled at the scene in front of him, his eyes twinkling. He already knew he was going to love watching them throughout the schoolyear.

"So what year will you be starting?" the old man asked, getting down to business, as Ginny had said.

"Well, I will be in sixth and Harry in seventh." Ginny said quickly. "I will be doing Advanced Tansfiguration, Advanced Muggle Studies, Advanced Potions, Advanced Charms..." she listed all her N.E.W.T.-classes. It was almost the same as Hermione's list.

"Wow, Ginny, you got into a lot of advanced classes! You're going to have a lot of work this year." Harry told her. "Well I guess I'll be taking Advanced Potions, Advanced Transfiguration, Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts, Advanced Charms, Astronomy, Care of..." here Ginny cut him off.

"I thought you quit it after your OWL's?"

"Uhm... Yeah, I did, but I'd like to start it up again, if that's okay with you, professor?"_ Please say yes_, he thought.

"Well, I guess that's okay... But you have to at least read the sixth year book, then." Headmaster Dumbledore said in a complative tone of voice.

"Anyway, what are you planning on doing untill school starts? Because that's still a month away." He asked next.

"Well, Headmaster, we were thinking of of staying here for the night..." Ginny started.

"Then spend two weeks in Diagon Alley, you know get our school supplies,..." Harry continued.

"And then spend the remaining weeks back here? You know, exploring, learning our way around." Ginny finished.

"But I thought you already knew your way around? After all, you did spend five or six years here." Dumbledore argued.

"Yeah, but the other students don't know that. It's going to be dead annoying, having to avoid shortcuts, when we know almost all of them, when we are already late, so those two weeks we can use as an excuse." Harry reasoned.

"Okay, that's a good plan, but do you have enough money to last the whole year and some time after that?" The Professor looked as if he thought he saw a flaw in their perfect plan.

Harry chuckled and said: "Back home we took half of all the money in my Gringotts vault. The Potter and Black heritance should be enough to last us several years!"

Dumbledore's head shot up. "Potter ánd Black? What happened?"

Harry's Face suddenly turned stony. Ginny took his hand and said: "I'm sorry, but we can't answer that. Sirius's death is still a sore subject for the both of us."

"Alright, I understand. Maybe it's best if we discuss further subjects in the morning. For now you'll be staying in our guest chambers." Dumbledore told them.

So they set off towards the fourth floor.

The next day they woke up at nine o'clock and went down for breakfast.

There they were introduced to the teachers that had chosen to stay at Hogwarts over the summer. Which was only McGonagall. Slughorn was only visiting for the evening.

It went a little like this:

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter. I'm James and Lily Evans' future son."

McGonagall passed out.

But after they had explained the situation, McGonagall had only one thing to say. "I expect nothing under an Acceptable in Transfiguration from my best students son. So don't you dare failing my class!"

Needless to say, she was thrilled to hear that he had Exceeds Expectations in his Transfiguration OWL and that she was the teacher to help him achieve it.

For the rest of the morning they didn't have anything to do, so they decided to tell the Professors some exciting stories, like how Harry got on the Quidditch team in first year and about the events during the Quidditch World Cup.

They were very intrigued and wanted to hear more, but they understood that they couldn't say anything.

They had to lleave as it was already half past ten and they had to get down to Hogsmeade Station to catch the eleven o'clock train.

Harry accio'd their trunksand levitated them all the way down to the train.

They thought they still had a lot of time left, so they walked at a leisurely pace, but when they looked at the time when they were halfway there, they saw that they had less than ten minutes left.

They started running and caught the train just in time, because seconds after they had boarded it, the train started moving.

They stood there in the hallway for a few minutes, recovering from their long run, suddenly apreciating the carriages very much.

They spend their long ride chatting about nothing and everything, and snogging in their seats, playing chess(Ginny won five out of seven), Gobstones(Harry got squirted three times, Ginny four), and eating Pumpkin Pastries and Every Flavour Beans. Ginny worst was spinache-flavoured (lucky her), while Harry's was charcoal.

Once in London they made their way to _The Leaky Cauldron_ as quickly as possible.

They took their rooms and put their trunks there, before taking the money and making their way to _Gringotts _as quickly as they could while not drawing attention to themselves.

They kept some pocket money to enjoy their first day in Diagon Alley.

When they passed the quidditch shop while enjoying their ice-creams, Harry said: "We've got to buy new brooms if we want to be on the team again this year." So they agreed to get them later that week.

The brooms they got were nothing compared to Harry's Firebolt, but they couldn't play on brooms that weren't even made yet. They were the best brooms on the market.

In the second week they got their supplies list. They went out shopping again the next day.

When they were in _Flourish and Blotts_ to get their books, they ran into nobody other than Lily Evans.

Harry had to do his best not to run up to her and hug her (though it's probably what James would have done), because she didn't know him.

When Lily saw him, she decided to give him a little warning.

"Potter!" she called him, though she was standing right in front of Harry. "You better not be planning any childish pranks this year, because I'm the new Head Girl and when I catch you or any of your boyfriends doing anything out of order, you. Are . Going. To. Be. In. So. Much. Trouble!"

Harry needed a little time to recover. After a few seconds he said, perfectly in role: "Hi, I'm Harry Smit. Congratulations on making Head Girl. Who's this Potter guy? Headmaster Dumbledore thought I was him, too. I must really look like him him, then." With a winning smile on his face.

Lily first looked surprised, then more angry than she looked before, and started with another "Potter! If this i..."

She stopped short because the Marauders had just walked into the shop.

"Why are there two Potters in here?" she said, making Harry turn round.

"Potter! Hey Potter! At least I think you are, 'cos you look exactly like me and Miss Head Girl keeps calling me Potter!" he shouted across the shop, causing other costumers to mutter angry words and James Potter and his friends to walk towards them.

"Who are you?" James said rudely.

"Ah, Potter. That is your name right? Yeah. My name is Harry Smit, as I was trying to explain to Miss Red Head Girl over here. And this is my girlfriend Ginny. We are exchange students from Holland." Harry introduced themselves.

"Red Head Girl? Hey Lily! I thought it would be you! Guess who made Head Boy, huh?" James said, noticing Lily standing behind Harry.

"Oh God, please tell me it's Remus." She begged, looking upwards.

"Huh?" James said, trying to see what Lily was looking at. "No, silly! Yours truly, standing here before you! I'm Head Boy!" James grinned.

"Exchange students? From The Netherlands?" Remus asked, ignoring James and Lily.

"Finally! Someone asked!" he said, while grinning madly, lettind the others know he wasn't being serious. "You know, you might become my best friend, once I know y'alls names!"

"Oh yeah! Sorry about that!" James said, having heard what was being said.

"I'm James Potter, those are my friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew" he pointed to each of them in turn, "and this Hogwarts finest, Lily Evans." Earning a glare from Lily.

"It's nice to meet you, Harry Smit and Ginny..." Sirius subtly pointed out that they didn't get Ginny's last name.

"De Boer. Ginny de Boer." Ginny said. "And congratulations on making Heads." She said to James and Lily.

"Thanks" they said at the same time, causing Lily to glare at him and James to wink at her. Everybody else laughed at them.

"What year are you in? We're all in seventh." Sirius asked the new couple in town.

"I'm in sixth, but Harry is in the same as you! What House are you guys in?" Ginny kept the conversation going.

"We are all Gryffindors." Peter said quickly.

"How do you know about the Houses?" Remus said, somewhat suspiciously.

Harry laughed and said: "Dumbledore told us. We were at Hogwarts for a night almost two weeks ago. We met him and McGonagall, they seemed alright. Can you tell us about the other teachers? And what about Quidditch? Do any of the Houses need players?" He badly wanted to play again.

"Wait a minute with all the questions, man! Let's pay for our books first, okay? We can talkover an ice-cream at _Fortescue's_." James proposed.

So they found out that every house had lost valuable players last year, but that Gryffindor needed two Chasers and a Seeker. Yay!

"I hope we end up in Gryffindor, because we used to play Chaser and Seeker for our school's team!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Were you any good?" James asked sceptically.

"Any good? Harry here was Captain last year and he has only once not managed to catch the Snitch in time!" Ginny bragged about her boyfriend.

"But Ginny here, she's a great Chaser. She practically carried us to the Cup!" Harry said, making Ginny blush.

"All right, but are your brooms any good, then?" Sirius laughed.

"We bought the latest Cleansweep last week. I hope that's good enough for you!" Ginny wiped the smirk of James'face.

"The latest? And we still fly that one from three years ago!" Sirius whined.

"So... Lily, Remus... Peter. I guess you aren't as Quidditch obsessed as we are?" Harry asked, trying his best to at least half-civilised at Peter.

"Finally! Someone notices we're still here!" Remus mimicked Harry from before. "I thought that the world could have ended and you wouldn't have noticed, you were so far gone in that Quidditch talk."

"To answer your question, no we're not. Can we please talk about something else?" Lly asked, smiling.

Ginny suggested they tell them about Hogwarts' staff.

"Well there's Gryffindors Head of House, McGonagall, you mentioned you met her, real strict she is, great teacher, though. Then there's Flitwick, Ravenclaw Head of House, Charms Teacher. Squeaky little fellow. Good teacher. Slughorn, Potions teacher, Slytherin Head of House, dead annoying really..." Lily got cut off by James.

"But your his favorite! I thought you loved Potions!" he exclaimed.

"I do like Potions, and I'm only his favorite because I'm dead good at his subject. Doesn't mean I have to like him!" she said, a little annoyed.

"Anyway..." she went on and on listing all the teachers, sometimes with comments from the guys.

Ginny and Harry found out that Sprout was only hired the previous year and therefore wasn't Head of Hufflepuff yet, but the Care of Magical Creatures professor, Martins, was; Divination wasn't a subject yet; Professor Vector for Arithmancy had already worked there for thirty years and nobody knew who the next Defence teacher was going to be for the last one had mysteriously been scared off (notice the Marauders' satisfied smirks).

It had become rather late and the others still had some shopping to do, so after talking about the teachers, they quickly said their goodbye's and parted ways.

All in all, Harry and Ginny had alreaddy accomplished one of their goals even before school had started: they had become friends with the Marauders and Lily.

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**Comments: Did you notice I called Molly a Prewett? If this is wrong, please review and tell me her real maidenname so I can change it. If I'm right, please review anyway 'cos I like it when you do.**

**-xxx- Malou**


	4. Sorting

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sooo sorry for taking so long on this chapter! I was inspirationless these last few weeks (was it that long? I'm sooo sorry!), and I couldn't write a lot at once, so I apologise.**

**Hello everybody. I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the other ones. I borrowed a few things from others which will be explained in the end, so I don't take all the credit.**

**I also don't take credit for the main characters, who were thought of and developed by J.K. Rowling.**

**Now on to the long time due fourth chapter!

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**

Changing Time

4: Sorting

Harry was extremely happy for the rest of the week. Ginny laughed at him a few times , because he just couldn't stop talking about his parents and Sirius.

Ginny was glad to see Sirius happy. In all the time that they had known him, he was always a little sad and he had this lost look in his eyes. Most likely because of him losing his best friend.

Harry had that look in his eyes, too, whenever they used to talk about Sirius after his death. It was gone now, though.

In those two weeks they spent at Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny were nervously awaiting the arrival of the other students, mostly the Marauders, Lily and Bill, Ginny's big little brother.

To keep their minds of the first day and the Sorting Ceremony (they couldn't help but feel a little unsure of where the Hat would place them, they felt like first years all over again) they spent their time playing Quidditch and getting used to their new, much slower, brooms.

They were surprised to learn that Hagrid was already gamekeeper in this time, though they should have known; Hagrid was hired when Dumbledore became Headmaster. They spent a lot of time with him, too.

They also had several Hogsmeade trips a week, butterbeers in _the Three Broomsticks_, Coffee's at _Madame Puddifooot's, _visiting the _Shrieking Shack._

And off course, _Zonko's_ and _Honeydukes_ were paid frequent visits.

Finally. It was the first of September. Harry decided to spend the last day sleeping till noon; it was their last chance they'd get, and playing Quidditsch till five.

At that time they could see the Hogwarts Express coming in from afar.

Seeing the red steam engine from above took Harry back to second year, when he and Ron had flown to Hogwarts in Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia.

He made an involuntary shudder as he thought of where that car had lead them; straight into the Whomping Willow, which he could see peacefully swaying in the soft summers' breeze that was blowing across Hogwarts' grounds.

Harry and Ginny flew down to Hagrids cabin and walked along the edge of the forest untill they could see Hagrid putting Thestrals in front of the carriages.

Ginny had seen them before, at the beginning of her fifth year, but she still wasn't used to these black, skinny horselike creatures. Especially their white eyes creeped her out.

She stayed a little behind as they aproached Hagrid and the carriages.

Harry, who noticed this, just had to tease her about it. "What's the matter, Ginny? You flew on them! You can't be afraid of them, now."

"Well, that was before I knew what they looked like!" she bit back, but came to stand next to Harry anyway. Harry took her hand in his and pulled her closer.

"Hey Hagrid! Need some help with those?" Hagrid knew Harry and Ginny could see them, but he didn't know that they had already taken them out for a flight their previous years.

"No thanks, Harry! I got them. Besides, the train should be arriving soon. Maybe you should go and meet your friends!" Ginny sighed with relief.

"Yeah, maybe we should, Harry! Meet your parents and Sirius! And Professor Lupin!" she said to Harry, making sure Hagrid couldn't hear her.

"All right, all right! No need to get your knickers in a twist! Though we probably shouldn't call him Professor, that would just be weird! Bye Hagrid! We're off to Hogsmeade Station!" Harry called to Hagrid, who just put up a hand, putting the last thestral to the last carriage.

Harry swung his leg over his broom and kicked off with Ginny right behind him.

Because the train was already slowing down, they could fly next to it and catch glimpses of the students inside. Somewhere near the end they could see the Marauders already in their school robes, waiting for the train to stop.

Harry tapped the window. Harry and Ginny started laughing hysterically as they saw Pettigrew look up and jump so high out of his seat, he landed on the floor. Apparantly he had screamed, too, because the other Marauders simultaneously covered their ears and swore.

By this time the train had stopped and Harry and Ginny flew to the other side to meet with the four friends on the platform.

Sirius came out first. The moment he spotted them, he called them to ask why they weren't on the train. "We were looking all over the place for you! We were looking forward to seeing you again! We thought you had missed the train!"

"Aww, I feel loved! But didn't we tell you? We spent the last two weeks here, trying to get to know the place." Harry said a little fast.

"We could have shown you around!" James, having heard the last part of the conversation.

"Please James. You wouldn't have shown us all the shortcuts, which we might need to get to classes on time, or to avoid Filch. He really is a pain in the backside." Ginny said matter-of-factly.

Sirius looked affronted. "Yes, we would have!" he exclaimed.

"No, we wouldn't have!" Remus said. "And I'm sure that you wouldn't have either if we came to your old school!"

"That's how we knew you wouldn't show us!" Harry laughed. Amusement was shown in his eyes.

When everybody was present, they walked of towards the carriages. They met Lily on the way there.

"Hey, Lily!" Ginny called to her, as she spotted her first.

Harry and James immediately looked in the direction that Ginny was waving.

"Hey, Lily!" they called at the same time.

"Hey Ginny, Harry, Remus, Pettigrew, Black!" she nodded at the people she greeted. She only glared at James.

"Oh Merlin, what'd he do now!" Sirius said exasperatedly turning his eyes up for dramatic effect.

"Potter didn't do anything! That's the problem! He just sat there, letting me handle the Prefects Meeting all by myself! And afterwards he just took off as fast as he could!" Lily was shaking with frustration.

"Lily, I..." James began, but she interrupted him. "Why do you keep calling me Lily? You haven't since first year!"

James sighed. "Well I thought since we'll be working together all year, we might as well be civil about it, and last names sound so hostile! Maybe if we at least call eachother by our first names we can get along better. After we have to share a common room together, with nobody else around. We can't fight constantly, because that way we wouldn't get any work done!" Lily looked impressed by his little speech, but tried not to show it.

"Well, you're right, Po-James... But you still didn't explain why you never said anything in the meeting!" Lily looked satisfied that she still had something to be mad about, because she had blushed ever so slightly when she said his first name.

"The platform's empty, guys! Come on hurry up! Let's get in the carriages!" Ginny yelled. She was right. There was nobody but them on the platform, and the first carriages had left already.

They hurried to the carriages and made it on to the last one, which looked like it had been waiting for them, because it started moving as Harry jumped on as the last of the party.

Once seated, Sirius and Peter started a fight, which they apparently had had before, because it sounded like it started in the middle.

"Cornish Pixies, Peter." Sirius said calmly from his seat at the far end of the carriage. Peter sat across from him.

"No, I think they are people who have really big and really strong Animagus forms with a Disillusionment Charm on them." Peter said just as calmly.

"Oh, Merlin, Peter. That's a little farfetched, don't you think?" Sirius retorted.

"Oh. And Cornish Pixies aren't?" Peter raised his voice ever so slightly.

"What are they arguing about?" Harry whispered to Remus, who was sitting next to him.

"Just about what pulls the carriages. They do it every year. Highly amusing, really." Remus said.

"Thestrals." Harry said loudly, so everyone could hear. "They're not invisible. _You_ just can't see them! And trust me, you wouldn't want to, either." He finished quietly.

"Yes, I do want to see them!" James said loudly.

"No, you don't!" Ginny snapped. "Because to be able to see them, you have to witness someone dying! And they're not exactly beautiful." She added as an afterthought.

Silence reigned for a few moments. Then Sirius broke it.

"So you can both see them." Harry and Ginny nodded. "Who'd you see die, then? Ouch!" James had kicked him in the shin. Lily glared at him.

"No, it's okay." Ginny said quickly. "Harry's godfather." She looked straight at Sirius as she said this.

"So Harry saw it, too?" James asked Ginny.

Harry answered instead. "Yeah. One of the worst moments in my life. But that's not why I can see them, though. The year before my godfather died, there was this tournament held at our school, and this older kid got killed during the final task. I was standing next to him." Silence reigned again.

After a few seconds Ginny had had enough of the uncomfortableness of the situation. "We are really nervous about our sorting in a few minutes. McGonagall was extremely secretive about it. Can you tell us what we need to do to get in Gryffindor House?"

That was all Sirius needed to get his mind of Thestrals. "Well, first you need to get through this maze thing full of Dark Creatures, such as Boggarts and Kneezles. Then you have to take a test on all different subjects."

Here James cut in. "You also have to do a practical Potions and other subjects."

At this point Harry said: "Wow. That's a lot. Sounds like it could take up a whole week! That's a long time to wait for dinner, _Sirius_!" Every head in the carriages turned to Sirius.

Black was getting nervous under all those stares, so when they finally slowed down, he happily grasped the opportunity. "Hey look! We're here! Now you can all turn your gazes on the castle and admire _it_'s beauty instead of mine!"

Everybody laughed at this comment and Ginny couldn't help but pinch his cheek as she passed him on her way out. Harry just had to comment.

"Hey Black! Don't be too cute, or else you might steel my girlfriend!" At this Ginny pulled a face which Sirius caught and made him pout.

"I'm not that disgusting, am I?" He asked Remus in a whisper.

"Nah you're not. I would have pulled the same face with James, and he looks exactly like my boyfriend!" Ginny laughed.

"Mr. Smit, Miss De Boer!" was heard over the crowd in the entrance hall.

"Oooh, McGonagall is calling you! What did you do?" Peter said.

"Shut up Peter." Harry said in a way that made you wonder if he was joking, but the smile on his face was as friendly as ever. "She's just calling us to get Sorted. See y'all later at the Gryffindor table!" And he and Ginny set off to Professor McGonagall to wait with her until Hagrid brought in the firstyears.

"'Ere's the firs'years, Professor!" Hagrid's voice came booming in from the doors to the Entrance Hall. "They a lively bunch this year! Especialy that Weasley kid. I was telling him about his father, always went on about them Muggles, didn' he?"

"Yes he was. Now lets get on shall we?" And McGonagall started on about Houses...blabla...family...points...Gryffindor...blablabla. At least that was wahat it sounded like for Harry and Ginny.

Ginny couldn't keep her eyes of her little big brother, glad to see a familiar face in a time where she knew practically no-one. Harry was looking for more people he recognised. So far was Bill the only one.

He did see a girl and a boy in a moleskin overcoat. They had fallen in the lake. They reminded Harry of Dennis Creevey, who had also fallen in the lake and had been rescued by the Giant Squid.

Finally Professor McGonagall came back from the Great Hall ("I hadn't even noticed she had left!" said Ginny), and ordered the kids to form a straight line and follow her into the Hall.

"Oh, Mr Smit, Miss De Boer. If you'll be patient and wait here until your names are called, you can come out together." They nodded and watched the firstyears file out.

When Bill passed them, they noticed he had a very anxious look on his face. Harry nudged Ginny in her side, so she bent down and whispered in the boys' ear.

"Don't worry. You'll be in Gryffindor!" He looked up at her with a surprised expression on his face, but he did have a more confident step as he walked on.

A half hour of nothing to do later Harry and Ginny could hear there names called through the door left ajar.

"Please, if I could have a few more minutes of silence, Sorting's not yet over, for we have two exchange students from Merlin's Day School in the Netherlands. Ginny de Boer and Harry Smit!"

The students who had started chatting as soon as Zarouali, Zachariah had sat down at the Ravenclaw table, looked up from their conversations at this news.

Harry and Ginny walked out, not hand in hand. Most girls were staring at Harry, because he was the handsome boy that he was. But the guys were looking at him, too, so maybe it was because he looked exactly like one of the most popular guys in the school.

Then the boys noticed Ginny. She was easily the prettiest girl in the school, and they were practically drooling over her.

Harry noticed this and grinned at Ginny. They were going to have fun this year. They silently agreed to fool every kid in the school by pretending they were not together. After all, the mischievousness was in their blood.

"Boer, Ginny de" McGonagall called, holding up the Sorting Hat.

"Ginny Weasley, eh? But you're from the future, I see. Your brother got sorted into Gryffindor. I guess I'll put you there, too. Good luck on your mission. GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was shouted for the whole school to hear.

Harry smiled at Ginny, but she could see he was nervous, she knew about Harry's first Sorting and what the Hat had said in second year.

"Smit, Harry"

Harry walked up to the tiny stool and the Hat was lowered on his head.

"Ah, Harry Potter. You did some pretty amazing stuff! Yes, I learned all about you in Miss Weasley's head. She adores you, you know? And you adore her. Well, lets get down to Sorting, shall we? I see I wanted to put you in Slytherin. But I put you in Gryffindor. And you have proven that it's the best place for you, so it shall be GRYFFINDOR!" Harry let out a relieved sigh.

He walked up to where Ginny was sitting with the Marauders and surprisingly Lily and what seemed to be her friends.

"Hey Harry!" Lily greeted him. "These are my friends Leya Patil, Alice Martins and Marciana Martinez. Girls, these are Harry and Ginny, we met in Diagon Alley, when I mistook Harry for James and started yelling at him in the middle of the bookstore. He was being dead annoying by calling me Red Head Girl."

Leya was a pretty girl who reminded Harry of Parvati and Padma Patil, she looked like she could be their aunt. Alice he instantly recognised as Neville's mother and Marciana looked very exotic with flowing brown hair and almost golden eyes. She had a slight tan, too.

"Well, Harry, your girl here has read hair, too, I can't help but notice. And as much as you look like James, you have the same taste in women, I just hope that you don't let your good looks go to your head, too. If you're as smart as he is, you will bring in quite a few points too, so we'll definitely win the House Cup, this year. And off course James'll win us the Quidditch Cup, too!" Leya said all this is rapid succession. _Yep, _Harry thought, _definitely related to Parvati._

"Oh yeah, James! When are the Try-outs held? I can't wait to play again!" Ginny said, grinningat James who was beaming at Sirius because of all the compliments in disguise he had gotten.

"Leya! He was sitting right here! Now his head is another inch taller than five minutes ago! And I have to look at it every day!" Lily complained to her best friend.

James snapped out of it and seized this opportunity to talk about his favorite subject; Quidditch.

James was talking about all the wonderful formations he had thought of and ended up talking about his favorite Quidditch team The Kenmare Kestrels. One of the reasons he loved Lily's eyes; their robes are emerald green, too.

At one point they actually did get the Try-out date. It was in three days on Friday.

"Hey, Remus! Who is that teacher talking with Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked, for he didn't like the look on the man's face.

"Oh, that's Professor Bygate. You want to watch out for him. Nobody likes him, but he's very good at his subject. He teaches Ancient Runes and he gets mad when you even get an Acceptable!"

Harry looked over at the man again. He looked more stuck-up than Aunt Petunia.

"Oh my Merlin, Harry! He looks more stuck-up than your Aunt Petunia! And I got his class!" Ginny exclaimed. Harry turned around to look at her.

"That's just what I was thinking! You reading my mind or something?" Ginny laughed at him.

"Petunia? I got a sister named Petunia! She's a right stuck-up cow! Maybe it's in the name or something."Lily put in the conversation.

Harry looked shocked. They had forgotten to stay quiet about his family. "Yeah...yeah, that must be it." He said a little softly, causing Lily to look puzzled, shrug and turn to Marciana to continue their conversation on how Muggle clothing was sometimes preferable to wizards' robes.

He looked back at Remus, who was now giving Ginny tips on how to survive in Bygates class. Then he looked at his father, who was engrossed in a conversation with Peter about the usefulness of rats.

_My best friend once had a rat. It turned out to be some wizard who betrayed my parents by ratting them out to their biggest enemy. He was supposed to be one of my Dad's best friends._ Harry thought, but knew better than to say it out loud. Instead he turned to Sirius, who was eating his third filling already, while Harry was just finishing his first.

"So, Sirius." Sirius looked up from his plate. "Yeah?" he said, in a muffled voice, flashing his half-chewed food.

Harry pulled a face at the sight which Sirius saw, so he quickly swallowed his food.

"I have an excuse to eat that way after summer, which I don't, what with my Aunt putting the whole household on a diet because her son is wider than he is tall, but you are from one of the richest families in England and you spent tthe summer with James. What's your excuse?" Harry grinned at Sirius.

Sirius looked stunned. It took a "Oh, look! We have our very own flycatcher, Remus! If we put him in our dorm, we won't have to clean because of flies!" for him to close his mouth.

"You got a cousin who's wider than he is tall?" Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, he did slim down since we started the diet, but he was in third year. But that's not what I asked."

"Yeah, I chose to ignore that comment, 'cause it suggests that James' parents starved me, and they didn't, although I would believe it of my parents."

Leya had been listening to the conversation and asked Harry why he lived with his Aunt and Uncle.

Harry, suddenly very sleepy, said: "Well, I'm really tired, because I got up at eleven this morning, and then I went flying, so we'll have to save that story for some other time! Good night Hogwarts!" He said the last loud enough for the whole Hall to hear, standing on his chair. He was feeling much more comfortable with all the attention now that he wasn't famous anymore.

A few girls at Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and Gryffindor and surprisingly Slytherin table, too, squealed.

"Good night James!"

"Sleep well!"

"'night Harry!"

Were some of the replies that rang through the large Hall. Harry grinned and said to James: "Maybe we should walk with name tags!" and winking at Dumbledore pulled out his wand, waved it, and above his and James' head appeared their respective names.

He stepped down, walked to the door, turned around and blew a handkiss seemingly to the whole room, but there were ten people in the room who knew it was meant for Ginny.

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**Well, I hope you enloyed it (and could still follow the story, since it's been a while since the other chapters, I'm sorry! ; )).**

**You know the part where Sirius and Peter are arguing in the carriage? And Harry totally ruins the mood? Well, I got that from a story called 'The Story Of Four Friends' by Star of the North. It's a story from Remus' point of view about the Marauders' school years. Very good story.**

**And you know Professor Bygate? I got the name from one of my reviewers, King of Vaypouria, who reminded me of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, else I wouldn't have even mentioned them.**

**I'll really try harder to update as soon as possible, now, but I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, so please don't be too mad if I take long again.**

**-xxx- Malou**


	5. Tom Riddle?

**Hey everybody! I'm back! I was fast this time, huh?**

**Well like I told some of you readers in my reply, this is going to be a bit angsty, and there's going to be minor swearing, so if you really don't like that, don't read on.**

**Beside angst there's going to be a prank, a fight and mushy stuff, so there is something for everybody.**

**I still don't own Harry Potter (or Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, Ginny or any other characters from the Harry Potter series). Boo hoo! But I don't care as long as you read my story, so read!**

**Happy reading!**

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Changing Time 

5: Tom Riddle!

BANG!

"Ow! Dammit!"

Were the sounds Harry woke up to, the next morning.

"HARRY! Why do I have my name written across my forehead?" James came out of the bathroom.

"Hahaha" Sirius had woke up. He had wanted to yell at James for waking him up so early (he usually woke up just before breakfast), but at the sight of James he burst out laughing.

Boom.

Sirius had fallen out of bed from laughing so hard.

Remus opened his hangings. "Wow, James! That is some cool magic, making the letters flash like that. I especially like it when they go pink." He burst out laughing.

"Well. People will definitely be able to tell us apart now; me with the crazy scar, you... with the flashy forehead."Harry grinned and went passed James into the bathroom.

It was a mess. Apparently James had been brushing his teeth, looked up into the mirror, and fallen over backwards into the towel rack, which was now hanging on one nail, the towels spread over the blue and white tiled floor.

Harry accio'd his wand with the little wandless magic he could do, and restored the bathroom to it's normal state.

He walked over to the washing table and looked into the mirror.

"AAARGH!"

His own name was written across his forehead in the same curly handwriting, which he now recognised as...

"GINNY!" 's.

-------------------

Ginny always woke up early. This morning was no different.

In fact, she was already showered and dressed and on her way down to the still empty common room, when

"GINNY" could be heard in Harry's delicate tones from the boys' dormitories.

She made a mad bolt for the portrait hole. She hadn't thought they'd be up so early.

Too late. Harry came running down the stairs, wand still in hand. Seeing her almost at her only way out, he yelled:

"Wingardium Leviosa!" and levitated her onto te couch. Now that she couldn't escape, she decided to play innocent.

"Yes, Harry?" she looked up at him with big, brown, puppy dog eyes. _They_ _always work on Harry_.

Harry looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't 'yes, Harry?' me. You know darn well hwat the matter is."

_Almost always._

Harry looked away. He couldn't stay mad looking into those eyes.

_Always. Ha._

"What happened to your forehead?" She tried again. All the Weasleys (except Ron) could lie well.

"You happened to my forehead. I can recognise your handwriting!" He said quickly, for she had opened her mouth to protest.

"Okay, okay! You got me!" She stood up. She wasn't afraid of Harry, but he could be a little intimidating, standing over her like that. "But it wasn't all my fault! There were other factors, too!"

Harry snorted. "Like what?" Ginny decided to go in offensive mode.

"Like if you hadn't gone up to bed early, I wouldn't have been bored last night! And if you hadn't pulledthat stunt last night, I wouldn't have thought of writing your names on your foreheads with magical never-fade-spell-and-water-resistant marker for all surfaces!" Ginny looked at him defiantly. "And it saves you the trouble of having to cast that spell every day!"

Harry said down. He smiled at Ginny, who stiffened at this action. He was pissed off.

"Well I guess I should be thanking you for your act of kindness, now, right? And feel guilty for leaving you bored? Well, you got another thing coming, Ginny! You are going to tell me how to remove it, or I'll hex you and you know I know some pretty wild hexes."

Ginny sat down again. _Okay, Ginny, think hard._

_Or you might end up with permanently green hair!_

_Oh no! What if he does that!_

_Calm down!_

_I am! Okay think._

_Um._

_Something about clapping your hands and...hop on one foot?_

_The instructions are in my trunk, Ginny._

Harry looked at Ginny. He was getting impatient.

He heard a whisper. Surprised, he looked around. Half of Gryffindor House was standing there!

"What's taking her so long?" someone said from behind Harry, making him jump.

"Yeah, Ginny, what's taking so long?" Harry asked loudly. He wasn't so angry anymore, now that they were closer to the solution.

Ginny jumped at the sudden sound in the near silence that was before.

Ginny smiled and said. "Harry, James? I'm just going up to the dorm for a moment to get the instructions. It's a very complicated procedure." And she was gone.

The portrait hole opened and Lily entered. She looked very angry.

"Why are you all just standing here? Some of you aren't even dressed! Go on! Hurry up! Breakfast is over in five minutes!" and she threw the schedules for the year's lessons on the table.

There was a stunned silence. Aftewr a few seconds people began to run up the stairs to their dormitories.

After ten minutes every Gryffindor was down again crowding around the table to get their schedules. They had five minutes to get to class, in which they had to get their books and get to possibly the other side of the castle.

Harry and James searched for Ginny. James spotted her on her way down from her room. She had on a wide smile. Obviously fake to Harry, but as real as fish to James.

"Ginny!" He yelled. "What do I do? Tell me!" he was jumping up and down from excitement.

The common room had become silent. Everybody still wanted to see the end.

"You...haven't got it." Harry said disappointly. James looked confusedly from Ginny to Harry and back again.

"I'm sorry, Harry! I've looked everywhere! I can't find it!"

Harry sighed. He looked at James. "Lets just go to class. We've got Defence first. I love Defence!" Harry said, trying to sound happy.

"Defence? I hate Defence, even though I'm the best student in that class. Plus, we've got it with the Slytherins. Great. All right. Lets go." James walked out with his usual casual, arrogant air. The Marauders followed him out, Sirius and Peter whining about missing breakfast. Harry could hear Remus snap at them when he passed Harry.

"Stop talking about meat! It's that time of the month again!" the people around that could hear him, looked at him curiously.

Remus noticed it. Sirius too.Remus saw Sirius starting to speak and stepped on his foot. Apparently Sirius had thought of a perfect explanation for Remus' words ("Remus is secretly a girl!") and looked angrily at Remus.

Remus started laughing nervously and said: "I'm a vegetarian once a month, for health reasons!" some people still looked at him suspiciously.

"What? You don't really think I might be on my period?" stretching out the last word. "I'd need a uteris for that, which I don't have. Hahaha!" Some people started laughing with him, other just lost interest. Remus heaved a sigh of relief and walked out after his friends.

Harry made to follow them, but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. It was Ginny.

"I'm sorry." She whispered when the common room was empty.

"I know." Harry said back. He wondered fleetingly if he should let her suffer some more, even though he wasn't angry anymore. One look in her pleading eyes broke down his last defiance. "It's okay. I'm not mad anymore."

He smiled and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"Come on. Lets get to class."

That day the bigger part of Gryffindor House was late for their first lesson and had lost a point per minute they were late. 231 points were lost.

When Harry finally arrived at the Defence classroom he was ten minutes late.

"Ten points from Gryffindor." Harry recognised that voice. He turned to the front of the class slowly. His scariest nightmare had come to life.

"Tom Riddle!" he exclaimed and immediately pulled out his wand. "What are you doing here? Why are you so young? You're from the diary! Where is it?" he asked, not knowing what to do. Here stood sixteen year old Voldemort. Ginny's worst nightmare.

Harry looked around at all the other students. They were looking at him like he was crazy.

In the beginning of class the teacher had told them that they would learn how other subjects could be used to defend yourself. He had started with disguises. He had transfigured himself into some innocent kid.

"Harry?" Remus asked from behind him. "Why are you acting like he's your worst nightmare?"

"I'm not acting like he's my worst nightmare, I'm acting like he's Ginny's! I'm acting like he's my greatest enemy!" Harry yelled hotly. He didn't understand why everybody could be so calm when _Voldemort_ was standing in front of the class.

"Harry, calm down! What's going on!" James demanded.

Harry looked at James with fire in his eyes. "How can I calm down, if the reason why my parents _and_ Godfather are dead is standing in front of the class!" he yelled. He was trembling from head to toe from anger. But if he was honest with himself, he would admit that a large part of what he was feeling, was fear.

The whole class turned to face the teacher. The Slytherins were smirking.

"Mr. Smit, sit down." Said 'Tom Riddle' while taking his wand from the desk.

Harry immediately yelled: "Stupefy!" and a beam of red light went directly at the teacher.

He blocked it and tried to stun Harry instead. Harry easily blocked it and threw back a total body bind. 'Tom Riddle' conjured a shield that would hold up long enough for him to change himself back.

Harry was stunned when before him stood Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor?" Harry said, still suspicious. He glared at him. "How do I know it's really you?"

"Ask me a question only the real Dumbledore would know about." The Headmaster said simply.

Harry thought long and hard. He remembered to use Occlumency so he couldn't see in his mind. What could he ask about that wouldn't raise suspicion? Than he found the perfect question.

"Why don't you eat Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans?" he really hoped that this was the real Dumbledore.

"Good question, Harry! Well, when I was younger, I ate a vomit-flavoured one. I haven't eaten one since." But Harry wanted to ask one more question to make sure.

"One more question, sir?" Dumbledore nodded. "What do you see when you look into the Mirror of Erised?" A big grin on his face. He wanted to see if would still give the same answer.

The Headmaster smiled. "Myself with a pair of nice warm socks. People always give me books for some weird reason!"

The class laughed and Harry sat down. "I'm sorry about trying to curse you, Professor." He apologised.

"That's alright, Mr. Smit. By the way, you're are a great dueller and that was a great bit of Occlumency, there. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get in your mind." Dumbledore complimented him.

Harry frowned. "I noticed. But don't worry, you are forgiven for using Legilimency on me. You didn't honestly think I'd let a potential enemy in my mind, did you?" he grinned.

Then he thought of something. "Professor? Why did you choose to turn into Tom Riddle? You could've picked any of your old students and nobody would have recognised them."

Dumbledore looked at Harry pensively. "That's just it, Mr. Smit. I wanted to see how many would recognise him! You were the only one who did. Care to elaborate? Tell us about this boy?"

Harry stood up and walked to the front of the room. He took a deep breath as he looked to his yearmates. He recognised Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Mikayleigh, Leya, Alice, Snape and Zabini, Blaise Zabini's father.

"Okay. Have any of you ever heard the name Tom Riddle?" looking more to the Slytherin side than Gryffindor. To his surprise Sirius answered.

"He's got an award for Special Services to the School. It's in the Trophy Room, I had to clean it a few times in detention." He said.

"Oh yeah! I had forgotten about that. Okay. If that's all you know, than I guess I should tell you the rest of his story."

He took a deep breath again.

"I'll start with the award. Some thirty years ago, when Professor Dumbledor was Transfiguration teacher and Professor Dippett was Headmaster, Tom Riddle went to school here. He was in Slytherin.

"In his sixth year the Chamber of Secrets was opened. It could only be opened by the Heir of Slytherin. The school was in terror all the time. Every once in a while a muggleborn would be petrified. It was only a matter of time before one of them would be killed.

"When that happened, Tom Riddle overheard Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippett talking about closing down the school. Tom didn't like that. You see, he was raised in a muggle orphanage and he absolutely hated it there. So he went off to find the Heir of Slytherin.

"He had found out earlier that year that some Gryffindor third year kept a small Acromantula in a box in a cupboard in the school. He ratted him out. The boy was expelled, and the attacks stopped, so the school could stay open. That's why he's got that award.

"But Professor Dumbledore had never liked Tom Riddle. You see, Dumbledore was thew one to pick the kid up at the orphanage to take him to Hogwarts. He had heard some pretty awful stories of this little kid using some pretty brilliant magic. Tom is brilliant with magic. That's why he was almost every teacher's favorite student.

"Tom Riddle can do great things with his powers. Too bad he uses them for evil.

"You have all heard of Tom Riddle some way or other. You see, he changed his name after he left school. He made himself an anagram."

Harry waved his wand in the air writing the words

'TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE' just like Tom Riddle had done for him.

He waved his wand again, and the letters started to move around. The whole class was watching interessedly.

'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'

Gasps could be heard all throughout the classroom. Even the Slytherins, who had tried to look uninterested, were shocked.

Harry looked at Dumbledore. He looked impressed and pensive at the same time.

Finally Leya got her voice back. "Both your parents and your Godfather were killed by Voldemort himself?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "My parents were. But my Godfather was killed by his cousin, a Death Eater."

"So that's why you live with your Aunt and Uncle!" Mikayleigh said.

James looked at Harry disbelievingly. "How do you know all this? Even if your parents were Aurors, you would never have found all this out from them!"

The other kids nodded their heads. How was Harry going to explain this one?

"My parents were Aurors. Two of the best around actually. But when they died, I had just turned one. I was sent to live with my mother's sister, her husband and son. They are muggles and very anti-wizard, so I didn't know I was a wizard until this guy from Merlin's day school came to get me.

"But when did this conversation become about me?" Harry had finally realised that they had drifted off topic. "Do you have any questions about Voldemort or something related? I'll try to answer to my best ability."

There was a silence.

Snape raised his hand. "Do you know of any current Death Eaters?" he asked.

"Not many. But I know that there are definitely Death Eaters-to-be in this classroom." Harry replied, looking Snape directly in the eyes. "Or maybe they already are?" He asked.

Here Dumbledore had to cut in. "Now, now, Mr. Smit. I'd rather you not go accusing people, alright? Maybe we should get on with regular class?"

Harry sat down. He knew he had gone too far, but he just hated Snape so much.

The bell rang. As everyone packed their stuff to leave Professor Dumbledor told them that there was no homework.

"Mr. Smit, please, stay behind for a while." Harry sat back down across from him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Why were you so much later than the other Gryffindors?" he asked him.

"Personal stuff." Harry said quickly. Frankly he didn't think it was any of his business.

"I see. Why is Tom Riddle Ginny's worst nightmare?" Dumbledore asked instead.

And Harry went into a brief account of his second year.

-----------------

James had decided to wait for Harry just outside the door because he wanted to ask him a few more questions.

Some things he accidentally overheard, he definitely didn't understand.

_Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets? In Harry's second year? But to do that they would have had to have come to Hogwarts, right? And I would have remembered it. After all Harry's in my year. Something isn't right here._

"Oh, hey James! What are you doing here?" Harry had just come out of the classroom.

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**I'm evil, I know! Next chapter is going to be Ginny's classes, so you still won't find out what's going to happen! Yay!**

**I'm going really slowly, aren't I? Haven't even finished the first morning of classes!**

**I don't really like this chapter, but I hope you do! So review and tell me how you liked it!**

**-xxx- Malou**


	6. Ginny's First Day

**Hello everybody! I'm back!**

**Well, since you all enjoy my story, thank you! And thanks for all the wonderful reviews!**

**This chapter will contain minor swearing, some arguing, fluff and people in shock, so you are forewarned!**

**Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**

Changing Time

6: Ginny's First Day

Harry and Ginny were walking down the hallways of Hogwarts hand in hand. The corridors were deserted, but they hadn't expected otherwise at 8:37; seven minutes after the bell had rung.

Harry walked Ginny to her classroom, she had Transfiguration first. Because Harry was already late, he wouldn't have done it, but it was on his way to Defence.

They had reached McGonagall's classroom door.

"You'll be alright, Ginny." Harry said. He knew she was nervous about the first class, she didn't know anybody in there. "At least you know the teacher."

"Yeah, but you know the students, you don't have to make a good impression."

Harry smiled. He opened the door and ushered her inside. "See you at lunch" he whispered. And he was off.

Ginny sighed and walked into the classroom.

"Nine points from Gryffindor." _Why did I have McGonagall first?_ she thought, because the professor did not sound pleased at all. "Sit down, Miss De Boer."

Ginny sat down in the only seat available; next to a hyperactive boy in her House. He had very blue eyes, blond curls and a natural tan. All in all he looked very cute._ Not as handsome as Harry, though._

"Hi, I'm Ginny." she said as soon as she had got out her books.

"I'm Marciano and I suck at Transfiguration." He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Ginny."

Ginny smiled, too. She liked this guy, they might become friends. "Nice to meet you, too, Marciano. And maybe I can help you with Transfiguration, I'm fairly good at it." And they started off trying to transfigure their bench into a comfortable sofa.

At the end of the class, they had managed to make the seating softer, and Ginny found she very much liked this boy.

Their next class was Care for Magical Creatures. All the way down to the edge of the forest they were talking and laughing.

Professor Martins was a young man, not much over twenty, but he already had several scars over his hands and face.

One that particularly stood out was on the back of his head, running from his hairline in the front, all the way down to his neck, creating a permanent partition between two halves of his hair.

Ginny soon found out that this Professor was much like Hagrid; messing with big animals with even bigger fangs and talons. Only most animals Hagrid can mess with, are too big and strong for Professor Martins.

Since Ginny hadn't known Marciano before their previous lesson, Ginny didn't notice anything different about the boy.

Until...

"Today, class, we're studying Bowtruckles.Who can tell me about these creatures?" Marciano let out a long breath Ginny didn't know he had been holding.

"Why were you holding your breath?" Ginny asked, looking at the boy curiously.

"Was I?" Marciano asked surprisedly.

"You only just let out the longest breath ever!" she exclaimed incredulously.

Marciano grinned. "Oh, I guess I was a little apprehensivewith what we were going to have to handle today. You know, Professor Martins always brings the weirdest creatures, not to mention dangerous." He whispered.

Ginny laughed. "Sounds a lot like my old teacher! In third year he had us taking care of Blast-Ended Skrewts! They moved by blasting themselves off, and some had bloodsuckers and others had stings. Hagrid thought they were amazing." Marciano and Ginny both laughed while getting one of the Bowtruckles.

"Wait. Hagrid?" Marciano had stopped dead with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What? Yeah. Hagrid." Said Ginny absentmindedly, while she was checking over one of the creatures. Marciano started feeding it, so it wouldn't attack her.

"Hagrid was your teacher last year? Our gamekeeper was your teacher at Merlin's Day School in Holland?" Marciano was eyeing her suspiciously.

Ginny, who wasn't really listening, answered. "Yeah, he was my favorite. Hey, this one is injured! Sir, there's something wrong with this ones arm!"

"What?" Professor Martins was there in seconds. "What's wrong? What happened? What did you do?" He was glaring at Marciano.

Marciano looked back incredulously. "What? I didn't do anything! Ginny and I were talking and she was looking it over while I fed it!"

Martins kept looking at him suspiciously. "I'll let this go for now, but the next time one of my creatures is injured you won't get off so luckily, Williams!"

"What? But Marciano didn't do anything! He didn't even touch it! That's not fair at all! Sir!" Ginny protested.

Martins took the Bowtruckle and walked off.

When Ginny went to get another one, Martins yelled that they didn't get any, and they should do the assignment without. Ginny was furious.

"Oh, that man is so hateful! How are we supposed to do this thing without it? We're just lucky I remember from last year, and what I just saw of that twig! We are going to hand in the best assignment of the class, you'll see. I can get Harry to help us out." She ranted.

Marciano let her go on and on. He was thinking about what she had said earlier.

"Hey Ginny?" He said as they were walking back up to the castle. What did you mean 'Hagrid was your favourite teacher'? I mean he was here all year, last year, so he couldn't have gone to Holland to teach you."

Ginny stopped dead. _Oh Merlin. It's my first day and I already messed it up! I need to talk with Harry._

Ginny walked up to the school, pretending not to hear any of Marciano's questions. She decided to change the subject.

"Hey, what's with you and Professor Martins? He seemed awfully hostile to you." It didn't work.

"I promise to tell you if you tell me what's going with you and Smit." He said cheekily. Ginny grinned. This was actually an easy 'trap' to get out of.

"Well… okay, I'll tell you. Harry and I… We're…" Marciano looked at her excitedly. "… Going out. But please don't tell anybody! We decided to make the school think we're not, to say how many guys and girls we could get to want to go out with us. The only people that know are the Marauders, the Head Girl, McGonagall and Dumbledore and Lily's friends."

Marciano was getting angry. "You know that's not what I meant, Ginny! Please just tell me. I promise I won't tell, okay? I thought we could be great friends, you know?" He pleaded.

Ginny went a little pale. She thought they could be good friends, too. "All right. I'll tell you. But not today. And most of it really isn't my story to tell, so you come sit with me during lunch and I'll introduce you to Harry, alright?" She looked at him with her puppy dog eyes.

Marciano nodded and followed her to the Gryffindor table and Harry. Ginny was so relieved that Marciano wasn't being difficult, that she burst out laughing upon seeing Harry and James' foreheads, and couldn't stop for several minutes.

Marciano was just standing there awkwardly until Ginny came back to her senses and had remembered to introduce her new friend.

"Harry, this is Marciano, Marciano, this is Harry." Harry shook Marciano's hand a little grudgingly.

"Harry, before you go all protective boyfriend on him, he already knows I'm your girlfriend, and he didn't try anything before he knew either. We were just having fun." Ginny told him quickly and Harry relaxed.

Harry sat down and Ginny and Marciano followed. They started piling food on their plates. Ginny looked up and noticed that James hadn't put anything on his plate, yet. _But he must be hungry, I mean he didn't have breakfast or anything._

She looked over at Harry. He wasn't eating either. _Now I know something is going on. Harry always eats lunch. Especially if he's missed breakfast._

"Harry, is there something wrong?" She asked concernedly. Harry looked at her.

* * *

"Oh, hey James! What are you doing here?" Harry had just come out of the classroom. 

James looked at Harry. "Who are you?" he asked, confused.

_What?_ Harry thought,_ Shit! He must have heard the story!_

Harry looked at James. "We need to talk." He said.

"Damn right, we need to talk! What is this about the Chamber of Secrets? And you going here for second year, too? I don't remember you ever going here while I was!"

"But not now. We've got class, and I don't want to lose any more points today. Lets get to Potions." And Harry walked of in the direction of the dungeons.

"Oho! You two are late! Five points from Gryffindor, each." They heard upon entering.

"Sorry Professor, but I've got a note from Professor Dumbledore." Harry handed him the note. "James was waiting for me, because I didn't know how to get down here." He added.

Slughorn read the note. "Okay, you get the ten points back. Sit down."

Harry and James were paired with each other to make Veritaserum, the truth potion. They did pretty well together, even though James was a little cold to Harry throughout the class, and managed to present Slughorn with a decent potion at the end of the lesson. Harry didn't see James slip a vial of their potion in his pocket.

He walked to the Great Hall with Lily and her friends.

* * *

He shook his head. "You got Defence today?" he asked. 

Ginny checked her timetable and nodded. "Yeah. Last class of the day. Why?" Harry looked at her with a worried look on his face.

"If the teacher does something stupid, like say, transfigures himself into someone you don't like, just curse him and come find me, okay? I'll be in History of Magic." Ginny looked in his eyes. He was being serious.

"Ooh-kay." She said hesitatingly. "What happened? Who's the new teacher?" She looked at the staff-table. She didn't see any new faces there.

"It's Dumbledore. He turned himself into Voldemort when he was a kid, Tom Riddle. Harry freaked out 'coz he didn't see the start of the lesson…" Sirius shut up after seeing the look on Ginny and Harry's faces. They looked horrified.

Harry looked at Ginny. "Lets go somewhere to talk, okay?" Harry and Ginny stood up and walked to a nearby classroom. They didn't notice James following them in his Invisibility Cloak.

"Tom Riddle?" Ginny said faintly. "Tom was there?"

Harry closed the door. "Sit down, Ginny." Ginny sank down to the floor. She was in shock.

Harry pulled her up and steered her to the teacher's chair, the most comfortable one there. He sat down on the desk facing Ginny.

"Ginny?" he asked quietly. She looked up at him.

"I told Dumbledore about the Chamber. All that I know, anyway. I was vague about you and the diary." He continued quietly.

Ginny started to cry softly. Harry pulled her up and onto his lap. He stroked her arm to comfort her. "No. No. STOP IT!" Ginny jumped of Harry's lap.

Harry looked at her. She looked scared of him. "What did he do to you? Before I came down? What did he do?" Harry tried to stay calm. He didn't go near her, because he knew she'd jump away again.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I can't talk about it." She said quietly. She had come to her senses again, though she still looked distraught.

_I'm so sorry, Harry. Please don't push it any further._ she was praying.

Harry sighed . "Okay. I won't ask any more. But promise me you'll talk to someone about it. Anybody. I don't care if it's Snape you'll tell. Just don't keep it in, okay?" he looked at her pleadingly.

Ginny let out a long breath. She looked relieved. "I promise that if I'm ready, I'll tell _you_." she smiled a little. _I have the best boyfriend ever._

"Lets get to class, Harry. I've got Arithmancy, and I don't want to be late."

Harry nodded. "Okay. I'll be in History, remember that!"

Ginny only waved and walked out the room.

A few seconds later she walked back in. She gave Harry a kiss.

"I made a big mistake." She said.

"What?" Harry asked bewildered. This was not what he had been expecting.

"I accidentally told Marciano about Hagrid being our teacher last year! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say it! I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying! I..." Harry put a hand over Ginny's mouth.

"You're rambling." He removed his hand and gave her a kiss. "It doesn't matter. You think you can trust him, right?"

Ginny nodded. "I wouldn't have let my guard down if I thought he wasn't."

Harry smiled. "So we'll tell him, too. There's no point in keeping your friend in the dark. He's also in Gryffindor, right?"

Ginny suddenly looked worried. "Yeah, he is. But that doesn't mean we can trust him. Look at Pettigrew, he's in Gryffindor and he's going to betray his best friends!" They heard a gasp behind them.

They turned around. All four Marauders were standing there, James just pulling off his Invisibility Cloak. They looked mad as hell (except maybe Peter, he looked more afraid than angry).

"What is going on! Have you both gone completely crazy? How can you accuse Peter of such a completely low act as betrayal? How can you think that he could betray us?" James was absolutely seething. He looked as if he'd gone crazy himself, his face was all red and his knuckles were all white from clenching his fists.

After a few moments Ginny couldn't help but mutter something. "Harry, your dad's gone crazy!"

She said it very softly, but the whole room heard it in the complete silence that followed James' rant. Harry couldn't stop himself from bursting out in a fit of laughter. He needed the tension relief.

Lily and her friends had just come out of the Great Hall, when they heard James' rant. Lily, as Head Girl just had to check it out. Shearrived just in time to hear Ginny's muttering and Harry bursting out laughing moments after.

_All right. Situation: One pissed off Head Boy, two equally angry Marauders, one scared little Marauder, an hysterical exchange student, and an exchange student supporting the first one. The best way to deal with this is:_

"What's going on?" Lily asked curiously. She mentally slapped herself._ Damn me and my curiosity! Well, might as well listen to the answer._

Harry pulled himself together and straightened himself. Remus was the first one to speak.

"Ginny falsely accused Peter and said James is Harry's father." He spat.

"She never did that!" Harry protested. _Wow, I've never seen Remus so angry! Never mind, I have. In the Shrieking Shack._

This time Sirius spoke up. "Oh so we all were hearing things when Ginny said Peter would betray his best friends? And when she said that she thought your Dad's gone crazy, did we?" Harry hated that cold voice coming from his Godfather's mouth.

He stayed calm. "No, you weren't hearing things. I'm just saying Ginny didn't falsely accuse Peter, and that she implied that James is my father."

James snorted. "Harry, I think we should have that talk now."

Now it was Lily's turn to snort. "James, you're not serious, are you? We have class. You're Head Boy. And it's the first day of _NEWT_-year!"

Harry shook his head. "I think wecan miss today's classes. I think Dumbledore will understand the situation." He had a thoughtful look on his face.

"There's only one problem. Lily, kiss James." He ordered.

Lily blushed as thoughts began to fly through her head. "What? Why?" she asked, flustered.

"Come on Lily, we know you want to!" Ginny urged her. She saw what Harry was playing at.

James got angry. "Why should she have to kiss me? We all know she doesn't like me, so you can't force her into doing something she doesn't want to..." He got shut up by lips on his.

James' eyes widened and he was too shocked to do anything. When Lily pulled back after a few seconds, she said:

"I was hoping for a little more action on your part, James, but even without it, it was the best kiss I ever had." Lily looked like she couldn't stop smiling.

James was stunned. "Wha- what ju-? Why?" he stuttered.

"Why, James?" Lily said nervously. Then she became more confident. "Well, ever since that day in Diagon Alley, I haven't stopped thinking about you. And, well, I want to know what's going on, and if I have to kiss a guy I like to find out, I'm not complaining." She smiled at James.

"Why?" James said again. Lily's face fell. _What if he doesn't like me? He hasn't asked me out yet, this year. Oh my God! He's gotten over me!_ Lily felt like crying.

Remus quickly said: "It's bacause you were being yourself, James. You weren't showing off or anything. Now you need to tell Lily that you still like her, because she looks like she's going to cry."

This brought James out of his shock-like state, and he looked at Lily. _Why does she feel like crying? It can't be because she actually likes_ _me, can it?_ James thought. But when tears actually began to form in her eyes, and one threatened to fall out, he finally believed it.

He walked over to her and took her head in his hand. That one tear rolled down her cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb. "Lily?" he said softly.

She nodded. "Would you be my girlfriend?"

Lily smiled. "Wow. I never thought I'd be wanting to hear those words from you so badly! Yes, James. I'd love to be your girlfriend."

James smiled and kissed Lily passionately. He pulled out with a goofy grin on his face. "I'm definitely the happiest man on earth, right now."

Sirius walked up to his best friend and gave him a big man-hug.

"Congratulations, mate, I knew you'd get her eventually. You gave me quite a scare when you said you'd given up, last night." James gasped.

"I never said that!" he protested.

"Yes, you did. I quote: 'I want Lily to be happy, and I'm not going to stop her from being happy. If she can't be happy with me, I give up.' If that's not giving up, I don't know what is." Remus contradicted.

Harry looked horrified. It only just went right. _I don't know what would have happened if Lily never found out she loves James._

Harry looked at Ginny. 'that was close.' She mouthed at him. Harry nodded.

"This reminds me of how Harry and I got together. Maybe we can discuss it in the Room of Requirement? It's a terribly romantic story."

"Oh yeah, Ginny, I love that story, except the fact that I didn't notice you until not even a year ago. It's like I said, we could have had years if I hadn't been so blind." Harry said, reminiscing.

Now, Mikayleigh spoke up. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's great, but why is it so important that Lily and James get together? I mean, you said it was a problem they weren't."

Harry looked at her. "Alright. Lets go to the Room. There we can talk more freely, and we're going to need a lot of time to tell you, so we might as well be comfortable." With that he walked out of the room, holding Ginny's hand.

As they passed the Defence-corridor, Ginny let go of Harry's hand.

"I got to go do something." She said and she walked into Professor Dumbledore's classroom.

"Professor, Ha-AAAAH!" they heard Ginny scream.

"AAAAAH!" sounded a deeper scream. Ginny came running out of the classroom.

Another person came out after her. It was 'Tom Riddle'.

"Great Bat-Bogey hex, miss De Boer." He said.

"No,no,no. Harry, make him go away again. Kill his diary. Where is it. I don't want to see it." Ginny hid behind Harry.

Harry drew out his wand and pointed it straight at 'Tom Riddle''s heart. He muttered the spell to make him turn back.

"What were you thinking coming out here like that! I told you what happened, right? You know what she went through. You better apologise to her right now, for all the nightmares she's going to have." Harry yelled at his Headmaster.

Everyone was quiet. They were looking from Harry, who looked seething, and showed no regret whatsoever, to Dumbledore, who was looking stunned. And some were looking at Ginny, who was looking like she was in shock.

Finally Dumbledore moved towards Harry and Ginny. Harry could feel Ginny stepping back and he stepped with her. He still hadn't lowered his wand.

Every second the Professor stayed quiet, Harry got angrier. At one point he had gotten himself so worked up, red sparks flew out of his wand.

Dumbledore took this as his cue to speak. "I'm sorry, Ginny, I had forgotten I was still disguised when I came out. Please accept my apologies." He really looked sorry, but Ginny wasn't ready to speak just yet, so Harry spoke instead.

"They've found out some things, so we're going to tell them. We won't be in class today, but I hope you understand the importance of this matter." Harry stated formally, a little unfriendly.

The Headmaster looked at the students with them. "So Miss Evans and Mister Potter are together, now? Congratulations, Head students. You are all dismissed from classes this afternoon." The ten students nodded.

Dumbledore turned around and ushered the sixth year Slytherins and Ravenclaws back into the classroom, where he resumed his class.

Harry turned around and took Ginny in his arms.

"All right." He said to the small group. "I have to go to Gryffindor Tower first. Pick up some evidence. Maybe you could go up to the Room of Requirement, now?" he was looking at the Marauders.

The Marauders all looked at him strangely. "What is this Room you keep talking about?" Sirius asked.

Harry looked flabbergasted. "You-you don't know about the Room of Requirement? So that's why it isn't on the map! Okay. Lets go to the Tower first, and then I'll take you to the Room." _They don't know about it? Man, is the sky falling down?_

Harry made a ducking movement, shielding his head with his arms. The whole party looked at him strangely.

"I thought the sky was falling down. The Marauders don't know about the most magnificent Room in this castle. I thought you knew all about this place!" He shook his head while laughing.

By now they had reached Gryffindor Tower.

"Shouldn't you all be in class?" The Fat Lady asked.

"No, Bella. We've been excused from classes for the afternoon." Sirius said.

"Golden Years" Remus said, and the portrait swung open.

Lily started humming the song.

"Hey! I know that song! It's my Aunt's favorite!" Harry exclaimed. _I guess Mum and Aunt Petunia do have something in common then._

Lily looked at Harry. "I hate it. My sister played it all summer long, I can't get it out of my head."

_Guess not._ Harry thought. "You wait here, I'll go get my stuff." And Harry was up the stairs in no time.

_All right. I need the Invisibility Cloak, the Map, my Firebolt. And the photo-album._

He made it all hover beside him and threw the Cloak over them to cover it all.

When he got back down, Ginny was lying on the couch by the fire, asleep. She didn't look very peaceful.

"Remus, take my wand. Keep it pointing upwards." Harry said, after scanning each face in the room.

"Why?" Remus asked. He couldn't see what he was holding up.

Harry took the question the wrong way. "Because you are the person I trust most in this room." He said matter of factly.

"What?" Remus didn't understand one bit of what Harry was saying.

"Remus, you are the only person in this room, that I know, that didn't die on me. You were always there for me, so I trust you the most." Harry stated.

He walked over to Ginny and picked her up. Then he walked over to the portrait hole and climbed through with Ginny still in his arms (how he did it, is still a mystery).

He carried her all the way up to the seventh floor. There he started walking back and forth along the corridor. The Marauders, Lily, Leya, Alice and Mikayleigh looked like they thought he was crazy.

"Hey, Prongs! I think Smit's lost his..." Sirius said, as Harry walked past the painting of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls in tutu's for the third time. He didn't finish his sentence, however, for a door had appeared opposite the painting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Room of Requirement or the Come and Go-room." Harry said theatrically, opening the door.

Inside their were ten comfortable armchairs, a nice fire, a refreshment table and a king-size bed.

Harry lay Ginny down on the bed and tucked her in.

"Everybody, get comfortable. We might be in here for a long time." They all settled down in a chair. Remus gave Harry his wand back.

"Okay. I feel that I must warn you. A few of your secrets might be reveiled. None of what I say here may leave this room. And I ask you not to pass judgement until you know the whole story."

Harry looked at all the expectant faces.

"Guess I'll start with my name. I'm Harry James Potter." Gasps were heard. "And I'm from the future."

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**What will be their reactions? Will Ginny ever wake up? Stay tuned for the next chapter of Changing Time.**

**Please review!**

**-xxx- Malou**


	7. The Story

**Hello, hello, hello! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but here it is! Be prepared for a lot of talking and arguing and laughing and dancing and... I'm going to stop rambling right now and let you read the chapter (in which, by the way, only Leya and Mikayleigh are my own characters).

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Changing Time

7: The Story

"_I'm Harry James Potter, and I'm from the future"_

Silence reigned for a few seconds, as the eight listeners tried to process the new information.

...the silence continued on...

"So you are Prongs' son, eh?" Sirius asked, just when Harry had decided to end the silence. He nodded. "So who's your Mum, then? You must have gotten your looks from your Mum, since you're much better looking than your Dad, you would have been better off with me as your father!" Sirius rambled.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Harry to answer the question hidden in Sirius'ramblings.

"I'm your Mum, right Harry?" everybody turned to look at Lily. "That's why I had to kiss James, right? So I'd realise I love him, right? You couldn't have told us otherwise!" Harry smiled at his mother. _She already loves him! Yes!_

Similar thoughts were going through James' head. "You love me?" he smiled the happiest smile ever.

James jumped up and started dancing through the room. When he passed Lily, he took her hand and pulled her up to dance with him. _I need music _he thought, and immediately Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney and Wings started to play.

By some weird phenomenon (Lily) the floor turned into grass.

Harry looked at his parents and smiled. _They really are made for eachother_ he thought. He looked around the room.

His parents and their friends were all laughing and they looked genuinely happy.

He looked over to his left where Ginny was sleeping. She didn't look peaceful at all. In fact she looked down right scared!

_She's having a nightmare. Music play softer._ Harry thought. Though the music wasn't turned down that much, it was still enough for the happy bunch to notice.

"What's wrong with her, Harry?" Alice asked concernedly.

Harry didn't take his eyes off Ginny. "She's having a nightmare about Tom Riddle. God, you don't know how much I hate that thing. He ruined my life and everything in it."

Harry sat down on the bed beside Ginny. He wiped some sweat off her forehead, she started backwards at his touch.

Harry pulled his hand away. He knew it was going to be just like during lunch, when he couldn't touch her. So he didn't try to get any closer.

Now, he tried something else. "Ginny, if you don't wake up in the next five seconds, I'm going to have to throw ice-water on you!" he warned her.

She didn't wake up, so he took a step back and conjured a bucket off ice-cold water. He levitated it over her head while distancing himself a little further.

He tipped it over slowly... the first drop fell on her head...a little further... three more drops followed... Ginny moved her head to the side... then he tipped the whole bucket over.

"Aaah!" Ginny sat up straight immediately. Her face was dripping wet.

Harry put the bucket down quickly and cast a drying spell on Ginny. She continued to shiver while she looked around her confusedly.

Harry put a warming spell on her, but she still didn't stop shivering.

Her eyes fell on Harry. She reached out to him, and Harry was by her side in the blink of an eye. In Harry's arms she broke down crying.

Ginny's tears kept on falling for five minutes straight, with Harry whispering softly in her ear. Then her tears subsided and she began to fall asleep again.

Harry knew she was struggling to stay awake and that she was losing the battle, so he asked the Room for some Dreamless-Sleep Potion.

It didn't appear.

After asking aloud two more times, and it still didn't appear, Sirius offered to go get some in the infirmary.

Sirius wasn't gone for two minutes, even though the Hospital Wing was three floors down.

"Thanks, Sirius! I owe you for that!" Harry whispered happily. He looked at Ginny's tear-streacked face, while Sirius handed him the bottle.

"Here, Ginny, drink this. You won't dream tonight, okay?" Ginny nodded and lifted her head to make it easier for Harry to pour the drink in.

"Thanks Harry, Sirius." She whispered, before she fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

Harry put Ginny back under the covers and tucked her in well, before letting out a long shuddering breath. He hated to see someone he cared about look so lost. He almost couldn't take Ginny shivering in his arms. It was positively nerve-wrecking.

He looked at the other occupants of the room. They were all sitting quietly, watching him and Ginny.

"Alright. Lets get back to the story. Now we've established that Lily and James are my parents, from now on the story isn't going to be fun." He paused, trying to find the words.

He reached under the Invisibility Cloak to get his photo-album.

He handed it to his parents. "This contains pictures of my life with you, and has been a comfort to me on many nights."

James and Lily looked at the pictures. They saw their own wedding, they saw happiness. They saw themselves with baby-Harry.

Then came pictures of Harry at Hogwarts.

Lily gasped. "There's nothing in here from you when you were one to eleven years old!"

James looked at Harry and saw the sadness in his eyes.

"That's what I wanted you to see. When I was fifteen months old, you died. I was sent to live with the only relatives I had. Petunia and Vernon Dursley." Harry told them.

Lily looked horrified. "They didn't! Why would they do that?"

James looked from Lily to Harry and back again. _What's so wrong about Harry staying with his relatives?_

"Isn't your sisters name Petunia? The one you keep complaining about?" Mikayleigh said.

Leya suddenly understood, too. "But she hates magic! She can't take care of a wizard!"

"She'd probably try to beat it out of him. She didn't, did she?" Lily said softly.

Harry immediately tried to ease his parents minds. "She didn't! Nor her husband." He said quickly. "But they did stick me in a broom cupboard for nearly ten years." He muttered as an afterthought.

"THEY DID WHAT?" Lily bellowed. She had heard him loud and clear.

James pulled her back down next to him on the chair.

"I slept in the cupboard, and I was sent there every time I had done something wrong." Harry continued. It wasn't fun to tell, but he knew it was necessary, if he were to tell the whole story correctly.

James, who had been silent from the moment he had learned of his and Lily's deaths, finally spoke up again.

"What did they punish you for?" he sounded angry.

Harry thought for a while. He didn't want them to pity him, just to understand.

Finally he came to an answer. He wasn't going to lie, he was going to make them funny stories.

"One time, I remember, I was being chased around the school grounds by my cousin Dudley and his friends. And Dudley was so fat he looked like a pig, but I was really small and I could run fast. I tried to jump behind the dumpsters at school, but I ended up on the school's roof!"

He laughed and the others laughed with him. All except Alice.

"And they punished you for that? For how long?" she asked.

Harry sighed. "For a week." He mumbled. "And there was this other time. My Aunt and Uncle sent me to the barbers' at least once a week, you know. They hated how my hair wouldn't lay flat. One day Aunt Petunia was fed up and she took these scissors and cut all my hair off. She only left the fringe 'to hide that ugly scar'. I went to bed, terrified for the next day of school. When I woke up, all my hair had grown back. Another week of only supper."

Harry looked around. He quickly thought of a story that he didn't get punished for. "One time, Aunt Petunia tried to force me into one of Dudley's old sweaters again, they never bought me my own clothes. The sweater was much too big for me, and it was ugly, too, so didn't want to put it on. As she tried to pull it over my head, it kept shrinking and shrinking, until it would only fit a hand puppet. She concluded it had shrunk in the laundry."

Harry looked around at all of the expectant faces. "I got one last story to tell you of before I found out I was a wizard." Harry noticed that a lot of them were purebloods.

"You all know what a zoo is, right?" Sirius, James, Peter, Leya and Alice shook their heads.

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's a place where muggles put animals on display, so that they can look at them."

"Yeah. So on Dudley's eleventh birthday, we went there. He took Piers Polkiss with him. Before we went, Uncle Vernon pulled me aside and warned me not to do any 'funny business'. Usually when they went out, I got dropped off at an old cat lady's house, but she had broken her leg, so I could come with.

"In the car was my first mistake. Uncle Vernon was complaining about motorbikes and I remembered a dream I had. I stupidly said: 'I had a dream about a motorbike, it was flying.' Uncle Vernon immediately pulled over and told me that motorbikes can't fly. I knew that, I mean, I wasn't stupid. It was just a dream.

"Then, we got to the zoo. After a while of looking at the animals outside, Dudley decided he wanted to go see the reptiles. He soon found the biggest snake in there and tried to wake it up. When it didn't, Dudley got bored and I walked over to the snake.

"I don't know why I did it, but I started talking to the snake. And the snake talked back." There were gasps heard all throughout the room.

"You're a parselmouth? My son is a parselmouth?" James asked.

"But only dark wizards speak parselmouth!" Peter exclaimed. Weird. Harry hadn't heard him at all since lunch.

Harry couldn't stop himself. "Yeah, you would know, wouldn't you?" he said scathingly. Poison dripped of his words.

Remus got angry again. "All right. What's your problem with Peter? What makes you think he's such a bad person?" He had stood up and he was shaking with anger.

Harry sighed and told Remus to calm down. "I'll get there in a few years." He said.

Sirius looked at Harry as though he was crazy. "A few years? You better tell us now, or…"

"I meant a few years in the story. It happens in third year." Sirius and Remus calmed down.

Harry continued his tale. "So I was talking to the snake. Then Piers notices the snakes awake and tells Dudley. Dudley comes and pushes me aside and I fall to the ground. I get angry and the next thing I know, the glass is gone, Piers and Dudley get really wet, and the snake is lose. As the snake slithers passed me, it hisses 'thanks, amigo.' And he snaps his jaws at Dudley's feet." He said quickly. He wanted to get passed this quickly and start on his first year at Hogwarts.

Everybody laughed and cheered for the snake, because they didn't like Dudley.

Harry was silent for a while. He looked at Ginny. She looked peaceful, now.

Harry walked over to the refreshments table and poured himself a goblet of water.

After sitting back down he took a sip and said, "Now comes the fun part of my life. Hogwarts.

"Letters started coming in mid-July. My aunt and uncle wouldn't let me read the letters, while they were addressed to me. After the first letter, they put me in Dudley's spare room."

"Dudley had an extra room?" Lily yelled.

Harry nodded and continued. "The letters kept coming, and when one Sunday the letters forced their way in through the fireplace, Uncle Vernon's last brain cells exploded. He told us to pack some clothes and drove us halfway across the country to get away from them.

"Off course it didn't work. Eventually he thought he had found the ideal place. A small wooden cottage on a cliff in the middle of a storm. It was very cold and there was only one bed, so Dudley slept on the couch, I lay next to him on the ground. It was freezing. I couldn't sleep, so I counted down the seconds until my eleventh birthday.

"At exactly midnight, someone banged on the door. They banged a few more times, before they knocked the door of its hinges. In the doorframe stood an enormous man, three times as wide as Uncle Vernon, two times as tall as Aunt Petunia, and she has extremely long neck. As he stepped inside the hut, he immediately apologised for banging down the door.

"He finally gave me my letter, and told me about how you died. You see, Aunt Petunia had told me you had died in a car crash and that that was where I had gotten my scar, but was far from the truth. You had been killed, by Voldemort."

Leya and Mikayleigh flinched at the name. Peter let out a great yelp, but most of them gasped at this piece of information.

James eyed Harry closely. "Did we fight?" he asked, quietly. He didn't know why he was talking in the past tence, but it seemed apropriate in the situation.

Harry smiled faintly. "Off course you fought! You had defied him three times before, and if you hadn't fought, I wouldn't be here right now. He didn't come to the house to kill you, James. He asked you to join his ranks, but you denied him, you told Lily to take me and flee, and he killed you."

There was a long silence. Everybody held their breaths. They all wanted to know what had happened to Lily.

When Harry didn't speak for a long time Lily asked the question. "What happened to us?"

Harry snapped out of his thoughts. For a moment he had been hearing his mother's screams again, her pleas to let Harry live.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry. You took me out of my crib and I woke up. Voldemort came up as you were shielding me from him. He told you to step aside. You didn't have to die, he would let you live. He didn't understand why a mother would rather die than watch her son get killed. That's when he killed you.

"When you were out of the way, he tried to kill me, and it's still a mystery how I survived the Killing Curse, but I did, and I have my scar to show for it. Professor Dumbledore reckoned it was my mothers love that is etched into my skin, which is why he couldn't touch me. That's why he sent me to live with the Dursleys. Because your blood runs through Aunt Petunia's veins..."

James pulled Lily closer to him. She was shivering, though it was pleasantly warm in the room.

_How can he know all this?_ Remus thought _He was only one year old when they died._ He asked his wonderings aloud.

"Funny _you_ should ask, Remus." Harry grinned. His smile quickly vanished, though. "In third year some convicted murderer had escaped from Azkaban, and for some reason the Ministry thought he might come to Hogwarts, so they placed Dementors around the place. It's what I hear when they come near me."

Nobody else could see the humour in it. "What's so funny about that?" Remus asked, a look of unbelieve on his face.

"Oh, sorry. Should have explained myself. In third year, my Defence teacher was Professor Lupin. He taught me how to make them go away."

Remus did laugh at this. "Me? A teacher? Surely not! I mean, I'm a Marauder! Dumbledore wouldn't hire a first rate troublemaker?" He looked at Harry as though he were crazy. _Surely I'm not going to be a teacher?_

James thoughed for a while. "You know... It actually makes sense Remus becomes a teacher. I mean, out of the four of us, Moony's the most patient one. And if he can handle his furry little problem, surely he can handle a few brats in class."

Sirius looked Remus up and down, holding his hands in front of his eyes like he was holding a camera. "Yeah, you're right James! I can totally see you as a teacher, Moony! You're always explaining stuff to Peter, and all! Defenitely teacher material." He stated with a nod.

Harry laughed. "But seriously. You are the best teacher I ever had, Remus, the only problem was, at the end of the year something went wrong and Snape blabbed to the Slytherins about your 'furry little problem' and you had to leave. It was all over the school by the next morning."

At Snapes name everybody suddenly became more attentive.

The Marauders, however, weren't thinking about Snape, but they were looking at Harry with shocked faces.

"How do you know about Moony's furry little problem?" James demanded harshly. He was looking at Harry with suspicion.

Harry sighed. _Why did I have to say that? Now they want to know about third year even more!_

Just when Harry was about to open his mouth, he got interrupted. "How does Snape know, anyway?" Lily asked pensively.

"You know, too?" James turned his head so quickly that you could hear a loud crack. Everybody winced at the sound.

Lily looked apologetic. "I've known since third year. You know, when we did Boggarts and werewolves? Don't worry, I haven't told anyone!" she said quickly, because Remus was looking at Lily's friends as if he was about to ask if they knew, too. "We sometimes speculate about what your furry little problem could be when we have nothing better to do. They have absolutely no idea." Lily laughed at the memories.

"You actually do that?" Sirius asked amusedly. "What did you come up with?" He was looking at Mikayleigh and Leya, because they are known to have a pretty wild imagination, thinking up elaborate stories (and usually on the northpole, if the truth was on the southpole) at every little incident that happened in Hogwarts.

Leya, who looked very confused, said: "I started the rumour about it being a cat with an allergy to bright lights, and that it lives in your closet, because if it was exposed to the dormitory-lights it would die." she stated smugly.

The Marauders and Harry burst out laughing. "You started that one? That was the craziest rumour ever! I was surprised it lasted so long!" James managed to get out between peals of laughter.

When they were all done laughing, Harry noticed that Alice and Mikayleigh were glaring at Lily. They looked really angry.

Then Alice began to rant. "You've known for more than three years, Lily? How could you not have told us? I bet you just found it really funny, huh? Listening to us, thinking up crazy ideas! But we really didn't have a clue, Lily! Hell, I still don't know what's going on! Why don't you tell us now, then?"

She was now standing in front of Lily, breathing hard. Lily looked at her dumbfounded. She hadn't thought about what it would mean to her best friend to find out like this.

_Man, I really screwed up this time._ She thought to herself. She had had a lot of fights with Alice, but they had never lasted long, and they never were about keeping things from one another, she had always told Alice everything that's been going on with her. Everything but this.

Lily shook her head. "I can't tell you."she said quietly. When Alice opened her mouth to yell some more, she quickly said: "Because it's not my secret to tell!" she looked at Remus.

Remus had to think on this one.

James, always the loyal friend, decided to give him some extra time. He leaned his face closer to Alice's and stage whispered:

"If it makes you feel any better, if Lily didn't know already, I wouldn't have told her, even if it was our wedding day, if Remus didn't want her to know." Earning him a slap to the back of his head from Lily.

Harry laughed. "My best friend knew from like three months into the year and she didn't tell me and Ron. Not until she didn't trust Remus anymore, anyway." Harry added. "She kept it to herself the whole year!"

Sirius looked at Harry incredulously. "She figured it out in three months? It took me and James almost two years! How did she do it?"

Harry nodded. "She's the smartest witch Hogwarts has seen in twenty years! She noticed how Remus was gone every month, and then with the Boggarts, it turned into his worst fear, and she recognised it for what it was. Oh, and then Snape covered a class for him and made us do an assignment on a chapter we weren't even at yet, and then she knew for sure." Harry said quickly.

Remus looked at Harry worriedly. "Why didn't she trust me anymore? What happened?" he asked him.

"I'll have to skip two years to explain this one, I hope you don't mind. I'll get to that later." When nobody objected, Harry continued.

"It was the summer before third year, and my aunt had come to stay. Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge." He added quickly at everyody's puzzled faces.

"Oh! Marge! The one with the dog?" Lily exclaimed. "She's so annoying! Can't stop insulting people, can she? She's always telling me I'm no good..." she trailed off when everybody was staring at her as if she was crazy.

Harry laughed. "Yes, the one with the dogs, she owns a breeding farm. When she came to stay, she used to take Ripper, her favorite dog, with her... But that's not what this story is about. So, Aunt Marge came to stay. On that same day, my Hogwarts letter had arrived, and you know what that means. Permission form for Hogsmeade." Harry paused for a few seconds. "I knew I wasn't going to get them signed for nothing, but the perfect opportunity to blackmail Uncle Vernon arose shortly."

"I like the way your mind works!" Sirius interrupted Harry.

Harry grinned. "I know. You loved it when I started a secret Defence group in fifth year. Anyway.." Harry said, quickly switching back to the story he was telling, leaving the others confused as to where that came from. "Uncle Vernon had told Aunt Marge I went to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys, very hard name to remember, and I kindly let him know that I could be selectively forgetful at times and might've let something slip. So he agreed that if I kept to the story, he would sign my form. It went all right for almost the whole of the two weeks she was staying, because I would recite passages from 'Quidditch through the Ages", the book I had gotten for my birthday from Hermione, one of my best friends, everytime she would talk about my parents.

"But on the last night, I couldn't block her out any longer. She was comparing Mum to one of her dogs. She was saying, that if there was anything wrong with the bitch, there's bound to be something the matter with the pup, too. And that's where I lost it. I got so angry, I blew her up with accidental magic. She kept getting wider and rounder and bigger, and at one moment, she floated out of her chair up to the ceiling. I was so angry, I ran away.

"I was sure I was going to get expelled, I mean, I already had had a warning for magic that I didn't even do. But I wasn't going to let the Ministry snap my wand, I could already see myself as Hagrid's assistant if that happened. So I took my trunk my trunk out of the cupboard, got Hedwig's cage (she was at Ron's), and got out of the house. When I got to Magnolia Crescent, I paused, and panicked. I was surprised that there wasn't already somebody there to expel me. I thought up an extremely bad plan to get to London and went into my trunk to get out my Invisibility Cloak, when"

James'eyes lit up immediately. "You got my Cloak?" he said eagerly.

"You have an Invisibility Cloak?" Lily asked, surprised. "I should have known!"

James smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, inherited it from my Dad. I was worried Harry might not have gotten it. How did you get it?"

"Dumbledore gave it to me for Christmas, first year. Said you gave it to him before you went into hiding. I have it here." And Harry pulled the Cloak of the stuff he brought with him.

"What's that? Is that a broom? From the future?" Sirius had spotted the Firebolt first.

Harry groaned. He had forgotten about that. "Yeah, it's a Firebolt. If you'll let me go on with my story, I'll tell you how you gave it to me!" he said hopefully, but James was already at the bedside, where the broom lay.

"Wow! Look at the streamlining! Remus! Come check this out! Harry, why did you get the Cleansweep if you've got a broom like this one? This has got to be the best broom ever!" James kept on rambling, and Harry shook his head.

Remus grudgingly joined James and Sirius at the bed, but when he got there, the other item caught his eye. The Marauders' Map. _That's our Map! What is it doing out there, Filch confiscated it last year. But it looks a lot older... Must be Harry's too, then._ "Hey, Harry! How did you get that?" He asked. _Maybe one of us told him where it was._

Harry looked up. He had been fantasising about getting back on his Firebolt. "What? Oh you mean the Map? Yeah, Ginny's older brothers, Fred and George, twins, gave it to me. They said that when they were 'innocent little firsties'" He made quotation marks in the air, "they were in Filch's office, and Filch had to leave, and they found it in Filch's drawer labeled highly dangerous. Thanks to you, they were able to get up to a lot more misschief than they would've otherwise. You were like their gods!"

Harry grinned. "I think that would be safe to say they are better at pranking than you are."

There were a lot of shocked faces in the room. Not only the Marauders were looking at Harry incredulously, also Leya, Alice, Mikayleigh, and most of all, Lily were looking at him as if he had announced the end of the world.

"No!"

"Better than us?"

"Worse than the Marauders?"

"How can this be?"

"You have to be kidding me!"

Harry laughed. "It's true! No, listen to me! They did some amazing stuff, they invented all kinds of useful things." "Like what?" Sirius interrupted.

"Skiving Snackboxes, for one. You eat one end and you throw up, or faint, or have a massive nosebleed, giving you enough reason to skip class. Then, when you're out of any teachers' sight, you swallow the other end, and you're healed.

"They also came up with a candy that turns you into a canary, Canary Canoos.

"They created Extendable Ears, so that they could listen in on the Order Meetings.

" Plus they made a portable swamp, invisibility hats and gloves, Tiny pygmy puffs, Ginny has one named Arnold, fake wands, these markers Ginny used on our heads..." Harry would've gone on if Sirius hadn't interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get the point, but what did they achieve after Hogwarts? Because James and I will be Aurors to fight in the war." He said smugly.

"They started a joke-shop in Diagon Alley. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They make good money out of it, too. The world needs the few laughs they can get, and Fred and George can make a lot of people laugh."

"But are they doing to help fight against Voldemort, then?" Lily asked. It was clear that she wasn't totally convinced of their worth.

"Well, you know the invisibility stuff I mentioned? The Auror department of the Ministry ordered a whole lot of them, many Aurors don't even know how to do a simple inviso-spell. And they made these tiny little men, that , when you're being followed or something, make a loud sound somewhere where you are not when you've released them, so you can get away." Harry grinned at the others, who looked stunned.

"They are brilliant, and I don't understand why they only got three OWLs each, though they say they should have had an E in everything, 'cause they Exceeded Expectations just by showing up for their exams!" They all laughed. They liked the way the twins thought.

"But wait! It gets better! They don't even finish school! They drop out in the middle of their seventh year, because we had the worst DADA teacher ever, and she became our head of school, because Dumbledore got sacked, and she was High Inquisitor for the Ministry. Fred and George already had their premises in Diagon Alley, and they only came back for seventh year to make their mother happy.

"After our first Quidditch match of the year, against Slytherin, we won off course, me and George get into a fight with the Slytherin Seeker, and Umbridge, High Inquisitor gives me and George, and Fred because he would have attacked him too, a lifetime ban from Quidditch. They were the Beaters of the team, and they were great.

"After Dumbledore was gone, all hell broke loose. Fred and George had placed a swamp that Flitwick could easily remove, but 'he wasn't sure it wasn't against the rules' to remove it himself, so he let her come down, and she couldn't do it.

"They left with a big show. They set off their own fireworks that multiply when you blow them up, they made a big scene in the Great Hall, they Accio'd their brooms, announced where their shop was located, Hogwarts'students got discounts if the used their products to get rid of Umbridge, they told Peeves to give her hell from them, and Peeves actually saluted them, and they flew off.

"The fireworks would fly around the school for weeks, into classrooms during class. And all the teachers weren't coöperating at all, they all hated her, so they just sent out a student to get Umbridge to get rid of the fireworks, and other students would set of new fireworks, and somebody kept putting Nifflers in her office (she couldn't get into the Headmasters' office). And eventually she left after being beat up by a herd of centaurs in the Forbidden Forest."

"They got Peeves to take orders from them?" Sirius asked the question that was on everybody else's (that means James') minds. "The most respect we ever got from him, is that he doesn't sabotage our pranks!" _These guys are brilliant! And there's only the two of them, we're with four._

James thoughts seemed to go along the same lines, because the next thing he said was: "But there's only two of them, we're with four and we could easily surpass them this year if we try hard enough! And... What's the matter Lily?" Lily had got up from her seat on James' lap.

"James, you are Head Boy! You can't do stuff like that anymore. And if I find out you did a prank this year, I won't hesitate to put you in detention, or deduct points. Just because I'm your girlfriend doesn't mean you'll get any special treatment regarding to the school rules.. Unless I'm there with you." She told him firmly.

James looked smug. "You gonna break some rules with me? What rules are you thinking of, then? Do I have to start asking you to come with us when we set up another prank?"

Lily looked livid. "You better not tellme about your prank business unless it concerns me! No, I meant midnight trips to the Astronomy Tower, I love looking at the stars. Or trips to the kitchens for midnight snacks (I will wake you up in the middle of the night if I feel like having some chocolate), or Hogsmeade, or anywhere you can think of you can take me." Lily smiled at James. "When is our first date going to be?"

James was very surprised to hear this coming out of Lily's mouth, but he recovered quickly. "How about Saturday night, then? Oh, no, I can't because I have to be in the dorm by eleven o'clock, Marauder tradition. Maybe next Friday? No, that's Moony's night. Um..." Lily was becoming impatient.

Sirius who saw this quickly called for a Marauder Meeting. They stood in a corner, whispering. But the other occupants of the room could still hear their voices.

"Mr. Moony hereby pronounces the first Marauder Meeting of the schoolyear 1676-1977 opened." Remus started. As he said these words, the Marauders' clothes changed from the school robes, to Muggle suits, and a table appeared in front of them. They sat down at it.

Again, Remus spoke. "Mr. Moony would like to inquire as to why Mr. Padfoot called for this meeting."

"Mr. Padfoot thanks Mr. Moony and would like to depict his motives for calling a Marauder Meeting."

" Mr. Moony asks Mr. Padfoot to continue."

"Mr. Padfoot thinks it is time that a Marauder tradition is broken. He thinks that Mr. Prongs should be allowed to return to the dorm later than eleven o'clock on Saturday night."

"Mr. Prongs would like to express his gratitude towards Mr. Padfoot for giving him this opportunity to take out his girlfriend, but would nonetheless like to inquire if this has anything to do with Mr. Padfoot's desire to take out his own girl on the same night."

" Mr. Wormtail would like to interject that he did hear Mr. Padfoot planning a date for him and his favorite girl and that Mr. Wormtail was informed by Mr. Padfoot himself that he cannot wait to take his girl out again."

" Mr. Padfoot would like to comment that he is deeply hurt to hear that his colleagues thinks so lowly of him, but as long as the counsil is already on the subject, he would like to suggest that his proposal would not only count for Mr. Prongs, but for the rest of the Marauders as well."

"Mr. Moony asks the counsil to take this motion into consideration." He paused for a while as the Marauders considered the request.

Harry, Lily, Leya, Alice and Mikayleigh were all red from the silent laughter. They couldn't believe the Marauders would actually do such a thing.

"Mr. Moony asks each Marauder to put their left hand up if they agree with the motion. He also requests that if a Marauder agrees with the motion, but would like to add to it, he puts up his right hand. If a Marauder does not agree with the motion, Mr. Moony asks them to keep both hands under the table." The Marauders nodded their understanding. "Motion is to break Marauder tradition and give Marauders total freedom to do as they please on Saturday night as long as it isn't breaking any other Marauder laws and traditions. All in favour, raise your hands."

Peter and Remus raised their left hands, while Sirius and James raised their right hands.

"Mr. Moony asks Mr. Prongs to relate his idea to add to the motion. After Mr. Prongs's idea the counsil would like to listen to Mr. Padfoot's suggestion."

" Mr. Prongs would like to say that he thinks this motion is a great idea, but he also thinks that there should be a compensation. Mr. Prongs would like to suggest that the counsil add another night to the custom so as to not take away any valuable Marauder time."

" Mr. Padfoot agrees with Mr. Prongs, but he feels that the compensation time should be tripled."

"Mr. Prongs thinks that Mr. Padfoot's idea of compensation is far better than his own idea."

"Mr. Wormtail does not hold any objections to the conditions set by Mr. Padfoot."

"Mr. Moony agrees with Mr. Padfoot and would like to set the dates of the added early nights for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. Mr. Moony asks the counsil to put their hands up if they are agreed with the dates."

All hands went up.

"Mr. Moony declares this motion passed and the Meeting adjourned."

The Marauders got up and the table disappeared.

"So Lily, want to go out with me on Saturday night?" James said, already back to his normal self. Lily couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing and the others laughed with her. The Marauders were just standing there with confused expressions on their faces.

But when they realised that the others must have witnessed their Marauder Meeting, they burst out laughing, too.

When Lily had finally calmed down enough, she got up from the floor _(How did I get down there?)_ and sat down next to James on the sofa. " I'd love to go out with you on Saturday night." She answered his question.

Sirius sat down on the arm of the chair Leya was sitting in. "Hey, Leya, would you go out with me on Saturday night?" he asked her. The other people in the room suddenly fell quiet.

Leya blushed and mumbled something. Sirius didn't hear her. They hadn't noticed the room had gone quiet.

"What did you say?" Sirius asked.

" I said, you know I can't say yes right now. What would Lily and Alice and Mikayleigh think?"

"They don't care if you go out with me or that Ravenclaw prefect. Besides Lily's dating a Marauder herself, so she can't talk. And the others didn't protest to that either, so why would they mind me?" Sirius watched her closely.

"All right. I'll go out with you. You know I would have said yes anyway." Leya agreed.

Lily looked at her confusedly. "But you're dating that Ravenclaw prefect! You didn't tell us you broke up!"

Leya smiled. "I haven't broken up with him, because we never dated. Sirius has been taking me out every Friday night since Easter fifth year. But sometimes we do our homework together, too."

_But didn't Sirius date like four girls a month, last year? _Mikayleigh thought_ Doesn't Leya know about them?_

"Sirius had like a new girl every week, last year, right? You knew about them. You told us about them, yourself..." Mikayleigh had just answered her own question. "You made it all up, didn't you? You told us lies for over a year. We all think you're happy with that prefect and you've been with Sirius Black all that time? Why didn't you tell us?" Mikayleigh watched Leya with a hurt expression

Leya looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry Mike, but please don't be mad at me. Try to understand. If you had started to like a guy and we insulted him everytime we talked about him. And finally that guy asked you out, would you have told us?" Leya stood up. "Would you not have been afraid of what we would say and do if we knew? I was, and I decided not to find out. Sirius supported me all the way (Sirius stood up to stand behind her), he even got James and Remus and Peter to help me out. But I don't want to lie to you anymore. Sirius is my boyfriend (He put his arms around Leya's waist), and I'm proud to say it, and if you don't like it, I don't care."

Sirius glared at Lily, Mikayleigh and Alice, as though he was daring them to upset Leya.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

Then, Alice spoke up.

* * *

**I'm evil, I know. What is Alice going to say? Right now, even I don't know for sure, but I'm going to go wherever my fantasy takes me.**

**Please tell me if I've made mistakes in the story-line, I wrote most of it without chcking the books, so I might have some things wrong.**

**Forgive me when I say this, but...**

**The Netherlands will win the World Cup!**

**Thank you.**

**-xxx- Malou**


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